Morocco Sees 70% Drop in Foreign Student Enrollments Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

With the digitalization and simplification of procedures, in collaboration with the universities and the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI), the department had managed to improve the number of new enrollments from 3,400 in 2017-2018 to 5,000 in 2019-2020. However, Higher Education recorded some 1,500 new enrollments this year, due to the lack of housing, the closure of university residences due to uncertainties related to the pandemic, reports L’Économiste.

Thus, "with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we have opted for distance learning. This year, we are only opening the programs that provide 100% distance training... pending a normal resumption next year," said Anas Bennani, Director of Cooperation and Partnership. In addition, delayed registrations due to the postponement of baccalaureate exams by certain sub-Saharan countries could start as early as next month and the first phase of French language training could take place in the countries of origin, through the French cultural centers, the ministry said, which has launched scholarship programs for the 2021-2022 academic year.

Regarding outgoing mobility, the department has suspended exchange programs for the 2020-2021 academic year, particularly with Senegal, Tunisia and Jordan, while others have been suspended by partner countries including Malaysia and Italy. Other countries, including China, have chosen to maintain their program, but remotely.

As for private or state-partnered institutions, they manage to record nearly 40% of the workforce. But with this year’s health crisis, the sector has recorded a significant loss in new foreign students, thus constituting a very painful blow for many schools.