The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) welcomed the decision of French Minister of Education Najat Vallaud-Belkacem to officially introduce Arab language into the educational curriculum by 2017.

    Teaching Arabic to Arabs living in France is a great opportunity toward preserving the Arab identity and heritage for these people, said ALECSO's Director General Abdullah Hamad Muharib on Friday.

    He said that the organization will provide books, digital devices, training programs including those for people with special needs and experts in the field to achieve the Arabic language educational plan. Muharib also added that ALECSO will organize training courses for teachers following European educational principles.

    ALECSO and the French Ministry of Education are currently cooperating to issue a reference book on Arabic language for non-native speakers. The organization is also working on issuing a number of mono-lingual and bilingual Arabic dictionaries.