Spanish Government to put an end to the Nightmare of Moroccan students in Spain

Morocco World News

Rabat, August 9, 2012

The Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport is believed to have decided to abide by the cultural cooperation agreement signed between the Spanish and Moroccan governments in 1985, a source well acquainted with the issue told Morocco World News. Article VI of the said agreement stipulates that the students of the two contracting parties should be afforded the same rights and privileges as their respective nationals.

“Each of the two Contracting Parties will allow nationals of the other residents in its territory access to its schools and educational and training institutions, under the same terms as its own nationals,” reads article VI of the cultural agreement signed on October 10, 1985.

Last July, the Ministry of Education and Culture of Spain asked general departments of various universities in Spain to conform to this agreement and implement its provisions starting from the next academic school year.

Accordingly, Moroccan students will be treated on equal footing as their Spanish counterparts.

The enrollment fees at Spanish universities for Moroccan students would not exceed 1,000 Euros, which is considered far less than the amount to be paid by students from other countries, which is estimated at between 6,000 and 9,000 Euros.

The Spanish Official Journal has issued on May a law stating that students coming from countries outside the EU or from countries that do not have university agreements with Spain are to pay full costs of studies, instead of 10% in force prior to the promulgation of the law.

Moroccan students in Spain have taken to the street in several occasion and asked the Spanish government to reconsider its decision. They also called on the Moroccan government to intervene in this matter and ensure the safeguard of the rights of its nationals in Spain.

Given that an agreement was signed between the Moroccan kingdom and the Spanish kingdom to enhance cultural cooperation between the two countries, “we Moroccans hope that the Spanish government will take the agreement into account and abide by it. Besides, we are also here calling for the activation of the agreement the soonest possible,” said Noufal Argaz, a doctor who pursued his higher education in Spain, in his letter to the Foreign Affairs minister and to the Moroccan ambassador in Spain.