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Join on Telegram Rabat – Screenshots of WhatsApp groups’ conversations showing Moroccan medical school candidates cheating in the admission exams surfaced on social media in the past few days.
The incident sparked outrage among Moroccans, and many condemned these acts saying that it harms the reputation of medical schools and that only deserving candidates should be admitted.
Reports indicate that members of “Medicine 2022,” a private WhatsApp group, shared leaked pictures of the exam questions for the 2022-2023 school year, with others sharing answers to the exam questions.
The entrance exam to the faculties of medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry took place last Friday across Morocco.
Using the hashtag #No_To_Cheating_In_Medical_School_Exam in Arabic, many Moroccan netizens condemned what they described as “unethical” actions. Allowing “undeserving” students into medical school harms their future patients in the long run, some warned.
Mohammed Kacimi Alaoui, the coordinator of Morocco’s National Commission of Students in Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy, said in a statement that the incident “directly affects the public college and the dignity of the Moroccan student of medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry.”
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Alaoui added that the commission has sent an “urgent message” to the ministry of education, demanding that those involved in cheating and leaking the exam questions be held accountable.
The commission also requested the retake of the medical school entrance exam if necessary to guarantee the principle of equal opportunities and preserve the reputation of the schools.
Last February, Morocco’s Minister of Higher Education Abdellatif Miraoui announced the government’s decision to reduce the duration of medical school training in the country from seven to six years.
The decision aims to meet the objectives of the country’s News Development Model and the national project to extend health insurance to all citizens, Miraoui added, arguing that the reform seeks to address the chronic personnel shortage at Moroccan hospitals.
