The Minister of Education in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Caroline Désir (PS), refuted on Wednesday any use of the Arabic language in Brussels schools, as Conner Rousseau saidthe president of Vooruit, in a recent interview with Humo magazine.
“That’s a false statement”, assured Minister Désir on Wednesday, questioned during the plenary session of the Parliament of the FWB by the deputy Latifa Gahouchi (PS). In front of the hemicycle, the minister added that, even in the current context of shortage of teachers, all teachers were systematically subject to minimum conditions of mastery of the French language. Describing Mr. Rousseau’s remarks as “caricature”the Minister of Education pointed out that young people living in the Brussels Region speak French and that there is therefore no reason to use Arabic in class with them.
The president of the Flemish Socialists sparked controversy earlier this week. In an interview with Humo, he notably confided that he no longer felt “in Belgium” when driving in Molenbeek. “In Brussels, because of the shortage of teachers, people teach in Arabic in class because they do not speak French“, he had once more accused.
