As part of the activities of ICESCO’s Center of Arabic for Non-Arabic Speakers for 2022, the “National Training Session on Writing African Languages in Arabic Script” kicked off at the headquarters of ICESCO Regional Educational Center in N’Djamena, capital of Chad, on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. The ten-day activity was organized in cooperation between ICESCO, its Regional Educational Center in Chad, the Ministry of National Education and Civic Promotion in Chad, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and the Yusuf Al-Khalifa Center for Writing Languages in Arabic Script.

The opening ceremony was chaired by Dr. Saleh Bourma Ali, Secretary of State at the Chadian Ministry of National Education and Civic Promotion, in the presence of ICESCO representative Mr. Adel Bouraoui, Advisor to the Director-General for External Centers and University Chairs on Arabic Language, Dr. Ali Mohamed Qamar, Director of ICESCO Regional Educational Center in Chad, and Dr. Ashraf Mohamed, representative of the Yusuf Al-Khalifa Center at the International University of Africa (IUA).

In his address, Mr. Bouraoui reviewed the main components of ICESCO’s new vision, emphasizing that the computerization of Arabic Script-based African languages has become a key priority to keep pace with technological and digital advances in areas of production and development.

The training session benefits thirty (30) Chadian education professionals specializing in Arabic studies and features various presentations on African languages written in the Arabic script, their linguistics, their phonetic symbols adopted by ICESCO, and their teaching methods. The activity also includes practical training on the use of computers for writing African languages.

Dr. Ashraf Mohamed and Professor Mubarak Mohamed, experts from IUA in The Sudan, and the Chadian education expert, Dr. Suleiman Ibrahim, supervise the activity, while Dr. Ali Mohamed Qamar, Director of ICESCO Regional Educational Center in Chad, is responsible for organizational oversight.