Ambassador of France H.E. Claire Le Flecher hosted a reception to recognize and honor French language teachers in Kuwait, as part of the initiative by the government of France to promote the profession of French teachers through activities and events that will create links and solidarity all over the world.
In her address to the gathering of more than 150 teachers, Ambassador Flecher pointed out that the French language has been taught in Kuwait since 1966, when it was first introduced into the public school system. This is almost on par with the relations that unite our two countries, said the ambassador.
Noting that Kuwait and France celebrate 60 years of friendship this year, she expressed her gratitude to the Ministry of Education in Kuwait and the General Inspectorate for the Teaching of the French Language, for their support to the principles stipulated in the ‘cultural and artistic’ cooperation agreement of 18 June 1969.
Kuwait has around 500 French teachers in the public secondary school system and around 200 in the private schools, including two French departments at the PAAET since 2012 and at Kuwait University since 2014.
Ambassador Le Flecher remarked that French was the third language taught in Kuwait, after Arabic and English, which indicated the existence of strong and lasting relations between the two countries.
She also congratulated the teachers for their work, because together they make it possible to preserve and promote the Francophonie in Kuwait, which today has been taken to the highest level by such personalities as the current Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah.
To support this momentum of Francophonie, this year, she said the French embassy along with a group of Francophone Ambassadors established the Council for the Promotion of Francophonie in Kuwait, and unanimously selected His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah for the role of honorary presidency.
She said there was a common desire, on our part and the Kuwaiti authorities, for Kuwait to join the International Organization of la Francophonie. An ambitious and dedicated roadmap has been drawn up for this purpose at the end of 2020.
Elaborating on this she said contacts were made with French operators such as the Université de la Francophonie (AUF) and TV5Monde with the aim of establishing partnerships with Kuwait.
In conclusion Ambassador Le Flecher said that they have made supporting the teaching of French a priority, through pioneering actions such as
The signing of a declaration of understanding to enhance educational cooperation, during the next high-level strategic dialogue between our two countries, in mid-December in Paris, Supporting the initial and continuing training of teachers of the French language, with the support of the French Institute of Kuwait.
The creation of French diplomas, in order to enhance the learning of students, who will be able to more easily find educational opportunities (in France, for example at university) and professional opportunities,
And also the ambition to spread the teaching of French further, from the second grade, or even from the college in the future.
French is the fifth most spoken language in the world in terms of the number of speakers (after Mandarin, English, Spanish and Arabic) with more than 235 million who speak French daily, and nearly 300 million people who are able to express themselves in French.
