The Diplomat
Instituto Cervantes has signed an agreement with the Abdelmalek Essaâdi University in Tangier/Tetouan and the Mohammed V University in Rabat to promote the teaching of Spanish language and culture, in the framework of the joint declaration adopted by Spain and Morocco during the High Level Meeting last February.
The declaration of joint action was signed on May 17, at the Institute’s headquarters in Madrid, by the Secretary General of Cervantes, Carmen Noguero, and Rectors Bouchta El Moumni, of the Abdelmalek Essaâdi University of Tangier/Tetouan, and Farid El Bacha, of the Mohammed V University of Rabat, with the aim of promoting the development of academic, scientific, technical and research training activities in areas of common interest, as well as the joint organization of cultural activities that benefit the Moroccan university community.
The agreement is part of the Memorandum of Understanding signed during the High Level Meeting between Spain and Morocco, held in Rabat last February, and the joint declaration issued by both countries at that meeting, which includes, among the 74 points that mark the roadmap for the promotion of bilateral relations, the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language in Moroccan universities and the teaching of Arabic in Spanish university classrooms.
According to Noguero, the signing represents “a commitment to work side by side” and a “reinforcement of cooperation between the peoples of both sides of the Mediterranean”. For his part, El Moummi highlighted the essential role of collaboration in the field of languages and the value of the Memorandum of Understanding, while his counterpart from the Mohammed V University stressed that “what politics cannot do, culture can do”.
The Abdelmalek Essaâdi University of Tetouan, a public university created in 1989, is considered the first university in the northern region of Morocco. It is made up of some fifteen institutions including schools and centers on various sites in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region and in the city of Larache. The Mohammed V University of Rabat, founded in 1957 by royal decree and considered the first modern university in the country, is made up of two campuses, Agdal and Souissi.
The activity of the Cervantes Institute centers in Morocco, where more than 56,500 students study Spanish, is carried out in six cities – Casablanca, Fez, Marrakech, Rabat, Tangier and Tetouan – with extensions in Agadir, Larache, Meknes, Nador and Kenitra. “This network is a fundamental instrument to strengthen the presence of Spanish in the universities of the neighboring country, with which it collaborates through various lines of work, including the training of teachers of Spanish as a foreign language, the organization of university seminars on academic research topics and the promotion of culture in Spanish,” said the Cervantes Institute in a press release.
