Libya.. The Amazigh language returns to schools
About ten percent of Tamazight-speaking Libyans consider themselves indigenous, as is the case in a number of North African countries. After decades of ban during the Gaddafi era, the teaching of the Tamazight language has finally returned to Libyan schools.
According to Agence France-Presse, the Amazigh language has returned to being taught in Libyan schools, after it was banned during the era of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi for decades.
"Children love this subject because they find their identity and culture written in books," said Asirm Chawashi, a teacher of the Amazigh language in a school in the city of Zuwara, located in northwestern Libya, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, close to the Tunisian border.
And "Agence France Presse" pointed out that the government recognized by the United Nations is keen to satisfy the Amazigh community, by providing textbooks in their original language, without making it an official language yet.
She said that the residents of Zuwara profess their Tamazight language, and the Amazigh flag flies in several places, as happened in several other regions in Libya since the killing of Gaddafi after the massive popular uprising against him.
She pointed out that during the four decades of Gaddafi, the Amazighs used to speak their language at home or on the street in secret, far from the ears of the police, government institutions, or the media.
It should be noted that approximately 10% of the Amazigh-speaking Libyans, estimated at about 500,000, are Amazighs who consider themselves indigenous, as is the case in a number of North African countries, and that the Amazighs were present in the region even long before the campaigns Greek, Roman, and then Arabic in the seventh century.
Source: websites