Scholarships 2021: An Estimated Budget of 2.39 Billion Dirhams
Despite the efforts made, some scholarship requests remain unanswered given the limited resources.
On Monday February, 8th in Rabat, Driss Ouaouicha, the Minister Delegate in charge of Higher Education and Scientific Research, stated that the budget allocated to scholarships increased from 1.6 billion dirhams (MMDH) in 2017 to 2.39 billion dirhams in 2021.
In response to an oral question tabled at the House of Representatives regarding “the refusal to grant scholarships to certain students”, Ouaouicha noted that the ministry has reconsidered the budget allocated to scholarships, following the suspension of food and accommodation services (i.e. 200 million DH granted in the form of scholarships for the benefit of students).
This budget has made it possible to grant 155,000 additional scholarships for the benefit of new students for the 2020-2021 academic year, reaching around 400,000 benefiters compared to 329,000 in 2017, said the Minister Delegate, adding that the number of scholarship benefiters in master’s and PhD levels is around 30,000.
Moreover, Ouaouicha shed light on the draft decree n ° 2.20.407 amending and supplementing the decree 2.18.512 of 9 Ramadan 1440 (corresponding to May 15th, 2019), setting the conditions and modalities of payment to scholarship benefiters, as well as conditions and modalities for placing the credits reserved for these scholarships at the disposal of the National Office for Academic, Social and Cultural Works, explaining that the draft decree stipulates the distribution of scholarships allocated for the preparation of doctoral degrees in medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and veterinary, engineering and architecture degrees or degrees from business and management institutions, for students who pursue their studies in Morocco.
Regarding the requirements for granting scholarships, the government official explained that for bachelor’s degree, it is mainly a question of the social criterion, while for master’s degree; the academic criterion is also taken into account. As for PhD, the academic criterion suffices.
Ouaouicha considered that this matter constitutes a major challenge for the government, noting that despite the efforts made, some scholarship requests remain unanswered given the limited resources.