Morocco to Impose Tuitions Fees on Foreign Student: Minister

Casablanca- Lahcen Daoudi, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, announced on Friday Morocco’s intention to eliminate free higher education for foreign students, in a speech during the closing session of the first national conference on research and development in the field of phosphate.

The minister, however, did not reveal specific date for implementing the plan or he specify the amount of the tuition fees.

“There are Saudis and Kuwaitis studying for free at our universities; are we offering them financial aid ?”, the minister addressed the audience during the conference, which was held in the city of Skhirat, 20 kilometers away from Rabat.

Mr. Daoudi expressed the country’s determination to attract thousands of foreign students, pointing to the importance of supporting the country financially in terms of foreign currency.

In this regard, the Moroccan Minister stated that he held talks in the past few days with Malaysian officials about receiving nearly 7 thousands of Malaysian students pursuing their studies in a number of medical schools in Egypt.

“I received a delegation from Malaysia and discussed about the possibility of transfer of seven thousand Malaysian medical students who are unable to keep their enrollment at the Egyptian universities due to the current situation in the country,” he noted.

The minister did not reveal the outcome of the discussions, whether the Malaysian students will move to Morocco or not. He, however, must have faced difficulties to turn his offer into reality due to challenges related to French language, which is the main language of instruction of medical courses at the Moroccan universities.

Last year, in a presentation before the Committee of Education, Culture and Communication in the House of Representatives, the minister said that the government is determined to set charges on higher education for Moroccan students of affluent families.

The Minister also stressed that Moroccan education depends on foreign investment. “We must exploit the stability of Morocco to attract investors from major international universities,” said the minister.

“We cannot allow private schools to depend on Moroccan investors only,” he added.