The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) conducted the first ever comprehensive review of reformed Moroccan national school curriculum.
“The affection through which Morocco’s Jewish community and its customs are represented as well as the lives of individual Moroccan Jews is heart-warming. We are welcomed into the homes of the Jewish community through the textbooks and learn that Jews are entwined in the national and cultural fabric of Morocco,” said Marcus Sheff, IMPACT-se CEO.
A report on Morocco’s curriculum, released by The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), found positive reforms, created as recently as 2021, which introduced significant amounts of new educational material by Morocco’s Ministry of Education that familiarizes students with Jews and Judaism. To a far greater extent than other curricula the institute has reviewed. Morocco’s Jewish community is frequently and affectionately represented in the textbooks.
The IMPACT-se first of its kind report, in collaboration with the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation, evaluated 127 textbooks taught in the Kingdom of Morocco’s reformed national school curriculum, published between 2013 and 2022 by the Ministry of Education. The study focuses on humanities subjects, particularly social studies, geography, history, Islamic studies, Arabic language and literature, French, and English.
The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education is an international research and policy organization that monitors and analyzes education around the world. It employs international standards of peace, tolerance and non-violence, as derived from UNESCO declarations and resolutions, to determine compliance and to advocate for change when necessary.
The latest report’s findings show that peace and tolerance are central themes in the Moroccan curriculum and are promoted in textbooks across multiple grades and subjects. Peace is taught as a key component of respectful human relations, and a major foreign policy goal. Students learn about practical conflict resolution, and Islamic scripture is used to highlight religious tolerance and peacemaking. Tolerance is seen as an essential value for a civilized human society, and lessons explore racial, ideological, and ability-based tolerance.
Morocco’s Jewish community is frequently and affectionately represented in the textbooks. Students learn that the Jewish community is an inseparable part of Morocco, and current government efforts to preserve Jewish heritage are highlighted. Textbooks describe Jewish history, culture, and contributions to Moroccan society. Students learn about life in the mellah (Jewish Quarter), and stories of nostalgia and affection toward Morocco which textbooks interpret as a sign of Jews’ patriotism. The portrayal of Jewish people is sympathetic, and antisemitic stereotypes are avoided or subverted with positive traits like generosity, and loyalty to Morocco. Coexistence between Jews and Muslims is emphasized, with examples showing non-Jewish Moroccans hosted for Shabbat and Mimouna. Textbooks do not teach about the Holocaust.
Among the positive depictions are a Jewish boy hosting his Muslim friends for Shabbat dinner; a Jewish family hosting guests for Mimouna, a festival held by Moroccan Jews on the evening and day after Passover; a sixth-grade text introducing Bayt Dakira (“the House of Memory”), a museum for Jewish heritage located in Essaouira, a city in Morocco known until the 1960s as Mogador; and a fourth-grade Arabic textbook teaching about the importance of Jewish Moroccan music to Moroccan musical tradition.
IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff commented: “We are struck by this unique embrace of Jews and Judaism in the reformed Moroccan school curriculum, a project of King Mohammed VI.
“The affection through which Morocco’s Jewish community and its customs are represented as well as the lives of individual Moroccan Jews is heart-warming. We are welcomed into the homes of the Jewish community through the textbooks and learn that Jews are entwined in the national and cultural fabric of Morocco,” he added.