Casablanca — Morocco’s private education sector is planning to construct more and more private medical facilities in Morocco. The answer and acceptance of these new projects are two-sided.
The soon to be launched private multidiscinaplary university, l’Univesité des Sciences et de Santé de Casablanca (USSC), is one of the first universities to open its doors to medical students and professionals in Casablanca.
To become a doctor is the dream of many Moroccan students. Many students want to to help people and if everything goes well, earn a descent amount of money in the medical field. However, only the best of the best are admitted to public medical universities.
For this reason, Morocco has considered launching private medical universities, which caused varying reactions from parents, students, and critics, resulting in heated debates.
Questions such as: “Can a private medical school give equal rights to every Moroccan student who plans to become a doctor?” “Who will teach them if Morocco lacks medical resources?”“ Why do they have to be private?” These and many other questions are being discussed over and over again.
Even though, USSC has not officially opened its doors, many people are already weighing its pros and cons.
In addition, many people believe that the founders of these universities are in it for the money rather than wanting to educate Morocco’s young aspiring doctors. Even though the University is partnered with the Ministry of Health and is under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, many people continue to be skeptical about it.
The USSC will consist of four institutions: a Faculty of Medicine, a Faculty of Nursing and Health Techniques, a College of Biomedical Engineering and a graduate school of Public Health and Management.
Regarding the private tuition fees of MAD 130,000 per year, Andaloussi Mohammed, president of the USSC, justified the amount by the fact that “the cost financed by the Moroccan government for a general medicine student is between MAD 87,000 and MAD 126,000 per year.” He also promised that 20% of his students will earn scholarships, which will be based on merit and social criteria.
He also added, “The admissions criteria are exactly the same as those used for public medical school. Among the pre-registered, a classification will be made according to the candidate’s grades. Thus, the best 1000 students will be selected to take the examination under the same conditions as the public schools…our medical students follow exactly the same programs and the same curriculum as students in public schools.”
The University is setting high expectations since Morocco is in short on of doctors and nurses. Many fear that corruption could interfere in the admission and selection of students.
Nevertheless, until the USSC opens its gates, there is nothing left to do but to wait for progress and its impact on Morocco’s medical sector.
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