Moroccan Math Prodigies Denied EGMO Participation Due to Visa Application Delays

"We discovered on April 9 that Morocco would not participate in EGMO 2025," lamented a team member in a statement. The students then found out that their exclusion was due to the authorities not submitting visa applications on time. This caused dismay among the participants, as their names had been known for more than two months.

The 2025 team, composed of exceptional students Khadija Benaissa, Lina Chakir, Imane Belarbi, and Nada Senhaji, sacrificed personal time to prepare – countless hours in intensive training sessions for months – for this prestigious scientific competition, all for nothing. "These students worked hard for hours every day during their high school years," the families of the affected students revealed to the press. "Their efforts should have been rewarded at a prestigious international competition. Instead, they were unjustifiably excluded."

In the eyes of these families, this situation is not "a simple administrative error," but rather an "insult to the intelligence and efforts of exceptional students, a blatant disregard for the value of hard work and ambition, and a blow to Morocco’s image on the international scientific stage." They say they tried to contact the Ministry of National Education and the officials of the Central Excellence Unit of the National Center for School Examinations and Learning Assessment, but that they encountered bureaucratic obstacles. The ministry reportedly did not respond to requests for information. The Excellence Unit, for its part, requested communication authorization before providing clarification.

This is not the first time this situation has occurred. Last year, the Moroccan male team was excluded from the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in London due to identical administrative shortcomings.