Meeting on dissemination of Arabic, Islamic culture in Sahel countries

A Consultative Meeting on a program on dissemination of Arabic language and Islamic culture in the Sahel countries is to be held in Bamako, Mali, May 26-29.

The meeting, part of cooperation between the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) and the Tripoli-seated World Islamic Call Society, will be attended by Arabic education officials and Arab-Islamic school curricula planning experts from eight African Member States of ISESCO, namely Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Gambia, Guinea and Senegal.

A working document will be presented by the ISESCO on the Program's background and main targets. The working paper gives in-depth analysis of the conditions of Arabic language teaching in the Sahel countries and enumerates the projects due to be implemented within the framework of the Program.

The project on dissemination of Arabic language and Islamic education in the Sahel countries is aimed at enabling the peoples in the concerned nations to use Arabic language as a language of education and of the daily life. It also seeks to facilitate transcription of African languages into the Quranic script as well as the generalization of Arabic language teaching at different stages of formal and informal education, especially literacy and post-literacy programs.