A/HRC/20/26/Add.2 includes among its 26 founding members representatives of national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations and the academic community, including UNESCO chairpersons, universities and research centres in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.17 IV. Cultural rights and issues 29. During her mission, the Independent Expert raised issues relating to the realization of, in particular, the right to have access to, contribute to and participate in cultural life, including the right to manifest and develop one’s own culture, the right to have access to and enjoy cultural heritage, and linguistic rights. A. Use of the Amazigh language in education, the media and public life 30. According to information received, the Government offers Amazigh language classes as part of the curriculum in around 3,500 schools. In 2009-2010, the teaching of Amazigh language in primary school covered 17,630 classes and 15 per cent of students. The classes vary according to the main dialect spoken in each region; at present, such classes are limited to Amazigh-speaking areas.18 The Independent Expert is concerned that a number of obstructions restrict the use of Amazigh in education: for example, Ministry of Education circular No. 204 of 29 December 2010, on the status of exam evaluation in primary schools indicates that the language is included in evaluation exams of primary grades students at the municipal level. Exams for the Amazigh language are, however, not available at the regional level, even in regions with a sizeable Amazigh population. According to information provided by the Government, specializations in Amazigh language were set up in universities in Agadir, Tétouan, Oujda, Fes and Rabat. Amazigh language lessons are not, however, available for higher education classes, and there are no Amazigh language textbooks for first and second grade students. In addition, the lack of Amazigh language textbooks for third grade students has resulted in the cancellation of Amazigh language classes in many schools. 19 Furthermore, for second grade students, three hours of Amazigh language classes should be allocated, but in practice, these classes are replaced by tutoring.20 All school textbooks, except those for the Amazigh language, are officially included in the official Ministry of Education list of books. Moreover, the Amazigh language is not offered in centres for language teaching. 31. The Independent Expert encourages the Government to continue its efforts to introduce the Amazigh language to all levels of education, to widely circulate the primers produced by IRCAM and to address the restrictions that inhibit such an introduction. In this regard, she wishes to draw the attention of the Government to article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on the objectives of education, which includes, among other, the development of the child’s own cultural identity, language and values. She also stresses that, according to article 5 of the UNESCO Declaration on Cultural Diversity, all persons are entitled to quality education and training that fully respect their cultural identity. It is equally important that all children learn of the country’s rich cultural diversity, in keeping 17 18 19 20 8 See http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001858/185861e.pdf. As confirmed by interlocutors during the visit. See also “The rights of indigenous peoples: Morocco”, ILO and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (see footnote 9), p. 18. See AFRAK letter to the Minister of Education, No. 055/2956 of 15 June 2006. See Siham Ali, “Activists call for qualified Amazigh language instruction”, Magharebia, available from www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/03/12/feature-03.