Arabic Cancelled for Low Enrollment

The accelerated Arabic sequence will not be offered this upcoming academic year due to a lack of interest in the courses. In light of the cancellation, students and faculty reacted with confusion and disappointment.Exeter was one of the first New England prep schools to incorporate Arabic to the school’s curriculum ten years ago in 2004. It was designed to offer students an opportunity to study the Middle Eastern language intensively for their senior year. Students were chosen through a selective application process, which evaluated students based on their linguistic abilities and past grades in language courses.This year, only three students, uppers Jad Seligman, Zoha Qamar and Liana Marie Borges, initially registered to take Accelerated Arabic during their senior year.Modern languages instructor Ahmed Jebari, who teaches Arabic, French and Spanish, was surprised by the low enrollment, and said that the disinterest may be traced to many varying factors. “This is the first time that this has happened with Arabic. [But], it happens with all languages. At some point, the interest goes away,” he said.Jebari also noted that there are several reasons that could have contributed to the loss of interest in the course. He said that it could be due to the growing importance in different languages, such as Chinese. He also added, “There could be another main issue that could be shifting the interest of students, their family or the country.”Upper Sadie Gregory originally decided to take the Advanced Readings in Russian sequence for her senior year, but it was also cancelled due to lack of interest. Instead, she chose to switch to Accelerated Arabic.“I was surprised about the lack of interest because many students in my class said they wanted to take it prep year,” Gregory said. Gregory suggested that low enrollment may be due to college counselors discouraging uppers from taking a new language during their senior year.Seligman, who is half Arab, has planned to take Arabic since his prep year, and was disappointed to find that he might not be able to take it. “I came to Exeter with the expectation that I would be able to take it when I got to my senior year,” he said.Seligman has also been trying to recruit other uppers to sign up for the course. He suggested that if others expressed interest, they may be able to create a full class, in which case Arabic could be taught. However, many more students would have to express interest in order to create a class of twelve.Qamar, too, had planned to take Arabic since her prep year, and the option to take it here affected her decision to choose Exeter as a high school. “I was surprised that so few people signed up for the course, but many of the people who have expressed interest in the past are traveling abroad for part of the year and won’t be able to take it,” Qamar said.Seniors currently taking Arabic were surprised to hear of its cancellation, and said it was a class they’ve enjoyed and found to be an important offering. They also agreed that the course should not be cancelled because of its increasing relevance in global affairs.Senior Sami Jabari said that providing courses like Accelerated Arabic at Exeter is not an option, but rather the administration’s rightful obligation. “Exeter is supposed to be an institution that supports all kinds of different studies, and I think that not having Arabic as a language would take away from that,” he said.Senior Cal Oakley added and said that the benefits of offering Arabic outweighed the staffing concerns caused by low enrollment figures. “It should be offered because it's an increasingly relevant language and students could only benefit from exposure to it,” Oakley said.Senior Madison Firkey echoed Oakley’s sentiments and emphasized that the language will be progressively important.  “I have always been interested in the middle east and middle eastern culture and believe that it is a very important language to learn because of the continued interaction the US has with the Arab world,” Firkey said. “I believe that it should continue to be offered because I believe in the next decade it will be a vital language to know.”Modern language instructors were also surprised to hear of the low enrollment, but were not quick to jump to broad conclusions. Spanish instructor Fermin-Andreu Perez explained that while it was concerning, “it would be very early to come to certain conclusions at this point.”“We would need to see what happens in the next two or three years,” Perez added.Modern language department chair Richard Schieber, too, was wary to jump to conclusions based on the seeming disinterest. “[There’s] no reason to panic. But we have six languages left to choose from, even at the upper levels,” Schieber said.Jebari further voiced his disappointment in the course cancellation. “It is sad to give up something you take pride in, especially at a school like Exeter,” he said.