Higher Education: Multidisciplinary university schools, bones of contention

After the bachelor’s degree, multidisciplinary university schools are scrapped. The cur­rent Minister of Higher Education, Re­search and Innovation, Abdellatif Mi­raoui, has blocked projects that were initiated by his predecessor Saaid Am­zazi jointly with elected officials and local authorities. It was a question of opening this type of university schools and colleges in several provinces. In total, 45 projects have been signed, including 32 blocked by the new Mi­nister who is in favor of the creation of large university centers. In the mean­time, the Minister has launched yet another dialogue at the regional level to come up with a new master plan.

Miraoui has renewed an old practice, that of the minister who arrives and wipes a slate clean of what has been built. Today, in the provinces and re­gions, the turmoil is such that parlia­mentarians from the majority and from the opposition have risen against the minister. The MPs accuse the Minister of having stopped university construc­tion projects authorized under imple­mentation agreements that had been signed and accompanied by funding. Moreover, the parliamentarians had summoned Abdellatif Miraoui to ex­plain himself within the framework of the Education Committee of the House of Councilors, scheduled for March 22. At the last minute, the Minister asked for the indefinite postponement of the meeting without providing any expla­nation.

• Escalation of the case to the Head of Government: MPs and local elec­ted officials are not ready to let go. They have decided to send the case to the Head of Government to make him aware of the seriousness of the Minis­ter’s decision and to request arbitration. Stopping the project to create multidis­ciplinary university schools and colle­ges in provincial towns is a fatal blow to these elected officials, who have made commitments with the Ministry but also with the local populations. However, in this sensitive case where the Minister of Higher Education is a member of the political bureau of the PAM (Authenticity and Modernity) party -a strong ally in the government – it was necessary to exercise tact. The­refore, the Minister in charge of Rela­tions with Parliament is said to have suggested to the MPs from the RNI party not to bring the matter, in writing, to the Head of Government, and espe­cially to avoid that the subject be leaked to the press.

-The claim for territorial equity: The former minister had decided to cater to the claims for territorial equity. Indeed, elected officials had asked for territo­rial and social equity for students. To meet such a request, it was necessary to create university schools and colle­ges in the provinces. In short, instead of bringing these students to a big city like Agadir, universities would be created in (the smaller regional cities of) Tiznit, Dakhla, and other cities, in some ade­quate environment, and thus prevent students from crowding into a big city. During the former legislature, this was a very strong demand from parliamen­tarians, expressed on a regular basis during oral questions from the House of Representatives as well as from the House of Councilors. The MPs asked for three things: the creation of uni­versities in the provinces, the genera­lization of scholarships, and access to university residences.

Mohamed CHAOUI