Morocco Students To Receive Medical Cover

By Siham Ali in Rabat
for Magharebia

For all students in the kingdom, worries over paying for medical insurance will soon be a thing of the past.

Moroccan students are thrilled over a new government plan to subsidise their medical insurance costs.

Higher Education Minister Lahcen Daoudi announced the long-awaited reform strategy a fortnight ago in Rabat, saying: “We need to foster the right conditions so that the Moroccan student can be solely dedicated to studies and academic activities.”

The programme takes effect in the 2015-2016 academic year.

The medical cover will eventually be extended to include “any person pursuing education beyond the baccalaureate, whether in preparatory classes for engineers , higher education institutions, or professional and vocational training programmes”, Minister-Delegate Soumia Benkhaldoun told MAP on January 1st.

Nearly a quarter-million students are expected to benefit from the scheme. The exact number has yet to be established, because of Morocco’s 900,000 university students, most are covered by either their parents or the medical assistance programme for the underprivileged.

The decision to extend medical insurance protection to students has been broadly welcomed because of its positive impact on young people’s performance.

For years, students had complained about the lack of medical insurance. Hafsa Essafi, 20, a business management student, is among those looking forward to the new plan.

Extending cover to students will enable them to concentrate on their studies, because one of their greatest worries will disappear, she told Magharebia.

“At the moment, I’m covered by my father’s medical insurance. But a year from now I’ll no longer qualify for that service because of my age,” Essafi said.

“I’ve never understood why students have been excluded from medical cover, even though young people deserve a lot of attention,” she added.

According to Samir Chatibi, 19, a majority of students do not have the means to access healthcare and therefore live in very difficult circumstances.

“I don’t benefit from medical cover, even though I have a chronic condition. The grant I receive means I struggle to cover just my accommodation expenses. Without help from my family, I’d have abandoned my studies before now,” he said with a hint of hope.

Sociologist Karim Chouali hailed the new policy and voiced hope that support for young people would extend to other areas.

“Students must be at the heart of the government’s vision. We need to think about social, economic and cultural conditions,” Chouali said.

Political analyst Ahmed Essamdi agreed, noting that that support for students was “the duty not only of the government, but of civil society and political parties too”.

Young people need to be educated on major national issues, in order to have more of a voice in policy, the analyst suggested.

Essamdi called for a national dialogue to be organised, so that young people might express their grievances, hopes and expectations.