Press Conference in Commemoration of the Seventh Anniversary of the Royal Speech in Ajdir

16 October 2010

• Version française
• عــــربــيـة

The goal meant to be achieved in holding this meeting is to secure positive communication and interaction between IRCAM and the media. Communicating with the media derives much of its utility from the importance of the role that the media plays as an influential means of communication with the public. My talk tries to address the following points: a report on the political situation in relation to Amazigh, the status of Amazigh in education and mass media, Amazigh linguistic and cultural rights, cooperation, scientific research and cultural influence.
 

Amazigh promotion policy:

Replete are the gains that Amazigh has accumulated over the last decade in the history of our country. In political terms, the institutional recognition of Amazigh may well be viewed as an important gain; it is owing to this recognition that Amazigh was incorporated into different public policies, especially in the media and education domains. After the recognition of Amazigh, interest has switched from focusing on the utility of integrating Amazigh in the national societal project to the practical methods to be adopted for the execution of the political will in the public policies, a will that his majesty the king, Mohammed VI, overtly expressed in his speeches of Ajdir and the throne. Indeed, the project of extended regionalisation is viewed as one of the most important novelties in Morocco. Extended regionalisation is meant to attain a viable management of linguistic and cultural plurality and to set a policy of equal opportunities between different social classes and regions. Another goal meant to be achieved by extended regionalisation is a balance between the principles of state unity on the one hand and the rights and responsibilities of different regions on the other. This line of thinking was the topic of the paper presented by the Institute in front of the Advisory Committee of Extended Regionalisation.
At the psycho-social level, which is of paramount importance, a lot has been achieved as well. The interest in Amazigh has brought about a complex assortment of outcomes such as Moroccans’ pride of their Amazigh-Arab origin and their feelings of integration into the national social fabric.  The interest in Amazigh was also meant not only to contribute into attaining national unity and social solidarity but also to participate into boosting our country to reach new horizons of cultural plurality, democracy and human resources development, and to set the ground for the building of a strong Morocco able to face the challenges of globalisation and sustainable development.

The domain of teaching and education :

A comparative study between the periods before and after 2003 shows that the period after 2003 was an influential period due to the integration of Amazigh in the educational system. Before 2003, teaching Amazigh was totally absent in Moroccan schools. Conversely, Amazigh teaching has known important improvement after 2003. As a matter of fact, the rate of Amazigh learners at the primary school has reached 10  of the whole number of primary school pupils and the number of teachers that teach Amazigh has reached 12.000 teachers. At the university level, the number of students who enrolled in Amazigh Studies tracks exceeded 1000 students in all of Ibn Zohr Faculty (Agadir), Mohammed bn Abdellah University (Fes) and Mohammed I University (Oujda). From the foregoing, it emerges that the experience of inserting Amazigh in the educational system should, by right, be viewed as a precious and valuable experience. This insertion, whose goal is to endorse an efficient educational system, could not have been possible without the joint efforts invested by the supervising ministry, the Higher Council of Teaching and the Institute. 
Yet, the optimistic positive display set out above reflects part of the reality only. The educational system is beset by a whole range of problems and malfunctioning especially with regard to the horizontal and vertical generalisations. Put in another way, teaching Amazigh has neither been generalised over all levels nor all teaching institutions. In human resources terms, a drastic scarcity of human resources, both as teachers and inspectors, was observed. Yet, we must acknowledge that IRCAM has done its best to secure the insertion of Amazigh in the educational system and to contend with the problems set out above, not only by coordinating with the Ministry of Education, but also by preparing school textbooks as well as the necessary material for training trainers, teachers and inspectors.
The Institute is also responsible for mediating and coordinating with people in charge of teaching at the primary school and the university. In this respect, it is worthwhile to mention that the Institute was invited to participate in a meeting held at the Ministry of Education. The meeting addressed teaching Amazigh problematic issues at the presence of the Minister of National Education along with the Secretary of State for School Teaching and some directors from the same ministry. The meeting brought about important results such as carrying out a status report of teaching Amazigh problems and finding the appropriate solutions to such problems. The participators came also to the conclusion that the ministry is to contend with the problems befalling the teaching of Amazigh such as the generalisation of teaching Amazigh in different schools in Morocco and the organisation of teachers’ trainings. Another point which was addressed in the meeting was the operationalisation of the joint committee between the two institutions. The joint committee was asked to keep up with the process of Amazigh integration into teaching and all the actions that accompany such integration such as the preparation of human resources and corresponding legislative texts.

The domain of media and communication:

With regard to inserting Amazigh in the media, the Institute has invested a lot of effort in this domain. Foremost among these efforts is the participation of the Institute in the works of the National Dialogue Committee where the participators from the Institute have presented an evaluative paper of the current status of Amazigh in the media. This assessment was meant to show the points of strength and those of weakness in the performance of related institutions. The participators have also stressed the role of the Institute in paving the way to the integration of Amazigh into audio-visual media since 2004. The issue of the Amazigh channel launching was also raised and the role of the Institute again stressed especially in preparing the schedule of specifications and concluding the contract through which the channel will be able to receive the appropriate financial support. To cater for the needs of the channel, both the Institute and the people in charge of the channel have agreed to schedule an intensive training for the personnel working at this newly born channel. The training will range over as many points as standard Amazigh, Tifinaghe writing system  and the different cultural programs of the channel.
With an eye to endorsing Amazigh in the media, the Institute also coordinates with the Ministry of Education and the National Company of Radio and Television to flesh out the programs and improve the quality of their contents.
To bring this section to a close, it is worthwhile to stress the fact that we should do our best to avoid the confinement of Amazigh to the eighth channel only. Decrease in its use in other channels should be avoided as well due to two factors : The first is the preservation of the Amazigh national dimension while the second is the role that public media plays in unifying the different components of the social fabric.

The domain of partnership and human development:

Aware of the importance of positive interaction with its environment, IRCAM has an integral Strategy in the domain of partnership with institutions operating locally and abroad. In this spirit, the Institute has concluded a number of partnership agreements with related governmental institutions; it is our hope that the aforementioned agreements will bring about further benefits for Amazigh after the operationalisation of the joint committees meant to take care of joint programs.
With an eye to participating in the project of human development, the institute has also concluded partnership agreements with more than 200 cultural associations operating at the domain of Amazigh culture promotion; it has also supported more than 400 projects with funds ranging at 10 million dirhams. The Institute’s support and training has enabled the associations from organising cultural and entertainment campings for children, Tifinaghe learning workshops, artistic festivals and cultural activities. The Institute has also concluded partnership agreements with a number of universities, Moroccan cultural institutions and diplomatic cultural centres operating in our country to acquaint them with Amazigh culture. 
At the external level, the Institute researchers have contributed into the training and animation of a number of cultural activities on behalf of the Moroccan community living in Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, the United States and other countries. They have also exchanged expertise with a couple of researchers who share the same interest in undertaking research on Amazigh teaching, language and culture. It is owing to these agreements of partnership that the Institute was able to shed light on Amazigh culture and support association activists who have special concern for Moroccan culture in general and Amazigh culture in particular.
The Institute also contributes in human development by stimulating research and creativity through the organisation of an annual Amazigh cultural prize, and carrying out training sessions in education, cinema, press and plastic arts fields.

The domain of human rights:

Recently, a lot of effort has been invested in the domain of human rights, most influentially in the field of linguistic and cultural rights. This interest is progressively undertaken through the conclusion of partnership agreements between the Institute, the Advisory Council of Human Rights and a composite of other civil society organisations. Thus, if we consider all what has been attained in the domain of Amazigh promotion in different domains, we are committed to acknowledging the efforts carried out in the domain of human rights in Morocco. These efforts will, no wonder, place Morocco among the most notable countries that know considerable dynamism in the field of cultural and linguistic plurality. The Institute has also contributed, through the report submitted to the Ministry of Justice, into highlighting the most important exploits achieved along with the insuperable problems that have to be contended with so as to operationalise the national plans meant to promote human rights. This cannot be achieved without the cooperation of a composite of activists along their various conceptions and different methods of work. In this context, it is also of prime utility to stress the increasing awareness of the necessity to find the appropriate conditions to promote cultural and linguistic rights. This promotion should be undertaken in conformity with the regulations of international law and in consonance with the nationally and internationally recognised-as-appropriate practices.
The dimension stated above will, undoubtedly, endorse the internal front through sensitising people about the importance of the king’s speech in Ajdir. This speech constitutes, by right, the political and legal support to a new national policy which paves the way to an advanced concept of plurality and openness culture – a culture where the Amazigh component plays an important role.

The domain of scientific research and cultural promotion:

As for the academic level, IRCAM is gradually becoming an institution of reference in the domains of human and social sciences, of most concern here the scientific fields relative to language, art, literature, education, translation, history, environment, material heritage and new technologies. Foremost among the compelling pieces of evidence that IRCAM is undertaking distinguished work in this field is the huge number of research publications, training sessions, conferences and scientific meetings that have been carried out over the last few years.
Optimism and alertness
Given the achievements that have been made in a short period of time (due to political will and the contribution of many activists), we look forward to a bright future for Amazigh in our country. Yet, such bright future is conditioned by the verbal participation of society in the Amazigh promotion workshop which stands as one of the strategic workshops in the new Morocco. While viewing the future of Amazigh from an optimistic standpoint, we should, nonetheless, stay alert. Amazigh is befallen by two dangers. The first is identity sectarianism; the second is the non-democratic exclusion of the Amazigh component.
As for the Royal Institute for Amazigh Culture, I have no doubt that the Institute will keep doing its best to undertake its responsibilities, through providing counselling and contributing into the accomplishment of public policies by coordinating with related governmental sectors and cooperating with civil organisations. It is also fair to acknowledge that all the strategic, political and operational achievements made thus far could not have been reached without the efforts undertaken by the members of the Administration Council and the two bodies of research and administration.