Healthcare
Morocco’s year-long student uprising

A fight for healthcare and educational reform

18.02.2025

7.8 Minutes

Ana Maria Birsan

Morocco’s year-long student uprising: a fight for healthcare and educational reform

Morocco is home to the oldest university in the world, where the first medical degree was issued.[1] Yet, it is presently ranked 120th out of 137 countries in terms of the quality of its higher education system,[2] with two out of three students leaving schools and universities.[3]

Morocco recently decided to shorten medical, pharmacy, and dentistry study programs from seven to six years. However, the lack of clarity regarding this decision’s implementation sparked significant student unrest. While official statements framed the reform as necessary to deal with a shortage of medical professionals, its real motivations remain unclear. Some observers interpret it as a covert strategy to mitigate brain drain, as medical professionals migrate to Europe for better opportunities, harming Morocco’s development strategy.

This prolonged uncertainty fueled pre-existing discontent, triggering Morocco’s most extended student protest movement. Erupting on December 16, 2023, the comprehensive strike continued until November 7, 2024. Students boycotted lectures and hospital training sessions while also organizing peaceful sit-ins to voice their dissatisfaction concerning the practical implementation of the reform and its impact on medical education and public health.

Unpacking the reform: how its implementation went sideways

The proposed curriculum reform sought to align Morocco’s medical education system with European models. Still, students expressed great perplexity at the absence of updates on how the reform would result in a new, shorter program of studies. Despite being proposed before 2022, the government delayed providing details of its implementation until 2023. A female student representative explains: “There was no clear consensus on the pedagogical program or the necessary tools for adapting it, especially for students already midway through their studies.”

Second-year medical student Rayan explained, "It was specifically this, the tipping point for students, the reduction of medical studies from seven to six years, removing the final year focused on internships with no replacement or clear plan for the new sixth year." Students also raised other concerns, such as the overcrowding of classrooms, with a rate of one professor for ten to fifteen students on each clinical case, which is expected to worsen as the number of students admitted has increased by around 6% yearly.[4] An aggravated concern plaguing university hospitals is not only their capacity for training a batch of students at the same time but also the scarcity of materials and necessary infrastructure, especially in cities such as Guelmim-Beni Mellal, Errachidia, Agadir, and Laayoune.[5] Also, as students have noted, the medical field at this stage cannot accommodate required residencies and training, let alone current first- and second-year students who will graduate simultaneously.[6]

Adding to the confusion was the fear and concern about the implications of the way this reform was being implemented on the quality of medical training and education and, therefore, its impact on the citizens' health. Former Minister of Higher Education Abdellatif Miraoui justified this reform as a necessary change to increase the number of doctors in Morocco to achieve universal health coverage. Similar official statements were countered by students' testimonies, such as the one given by fifth-year student El Ghali: "It was a matter of do or die. It would have been the death of medical training. But our job is to study well, learn, and train to become good doctors. Not to fix the government's issues."

Amid unsuccessful dialogue attempts, escalating tensions, and two years of continuous struggle, the government scheduled exams on February 6, 2024, as if nothing had happened. Many students saw this action as a message conveying the government’s top-down authoritarian approach, snowballing students’ exasperation.

When the Ministry of Higher Education finally released a detailed educational plan on March 13, 2023, it introduced digital technology, artificial intelligence, and soft skills modules. However, the plan primarily addressed prospective students.[7] The student representative also noted, “The reform was published in the official bulletin without involving us, the students, who are the primary stakeholders.” Following the students’ refusal of the proposed plan, student representative bodies were dissolved, and their activities were prohibited. Their representatives, accused of instigating classmates to boycott exams and studies, were summoned to face disciplinary measures.[8]

Several mediators intervened to appease the situation and help find a viable solution. The Ombudsman Institution, besides parliamentary groups and factions, such as the Party of Progress and Socialism, played a pivotal role in supporting the students by organizing continuous meetings between party representatives and the National Committee for Medical and Pharmacy Students.[9]

From classrooms to courtrooms: protests turn violent as police crack down on peaceful demonstrators

Starting September 25, 2024, students desperately resumed sit-ins to demand clarity and fairness in the education reform process. The following day, indignation spread across social media through hashtags such as “#Medical students in Morocco are being abused” and “#Morocco's future doctors' dignity is being insulted,” which trended on X, with over 20,000 posts highlighting the ongoing and escalating crisis.[10] This surge followed in response to clashes with the police as students protested against the authorities' refusal to address their demands regarding the duration and quality of medical training.[11]

The situation deteriorated when medical students and their parents attempted a peaceful sit-in outside the Faculty of Medicine in Rabat, and authorities denied it. This refusal brought about larger demonstrations in neighboring streets, and it culminated in violent confrontations as police acted to disperse the crowd.[12] Eyewitnesses reported parents trying to shield their children, as well as chants denouncing the "shameful repression" of what was intended to be a peaceful protest. Video footage also showed a police officer knocking a protester's phone to the ground to avoid documentation of the events.[13]

The police were unexpectedly violent, cracking down on peaceful demonstrators and arresting 27 of them.[14] Arrests were reportedly significantly targeted at the members of the National Committee but also comprised nurses, doctors, and interns. The arrestees are still awaiting trial for prosecutions of disobedience, failure to comply with authorities, and unauthorized unarmed assembly.[15] They may even have to face a collective trial, which implies heavier accusations and, therefore, more serious forms of punishment, including charges of up to three years in prison.

The Higher Education Union at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy expressed condemnation of the escalation and use of violence against the peaceful demonstrations led by medical students.[16] Given the surge in public attention on the matter, the media contributed to fueling misinterpretation of the actual events, especially at this stage, following the instances of police repression. Before then, national TV and parliament discussions had addressed the issue to a minimal degree.

On October 4, students protested in Rabat as judicial prosecutions of their peers escalated the ongoing crisis. Consequently, students' frustrations intensified, leading to a call for the dismissal of Minister of Higher Education Abdellatif Miraoui, whom they held responsible for the situation.[17] Ultimately, Miraoui was replaced by university professor Azzedine El Midaoui.

A Fragile Settlement: progress or a temporary truce?

After almost a year of protests and negotiations, medicine and pharmacy students announced on November 8, 2024, a long-awaited moment: the achievement of a settlement between medical students, represented by the National Committee of Medical, Pharmacy, and Dentistry Students (CNEMEP), and the Ministries of Education and Health.[18] The settlement, finalized on Thursday, November 7, and reached under the Kingdom's Mediator, Mohamed Benalilou,[19] ended a year-long boycott. After 11 months of protesting, striking, and negotiating with government officials, in which students kept revindicating their right to quality education and status as citizens, their morale and energy levels were low given the unprecedented strike duration, the insufficient progress, and the repression they faced. "The risk was to waste momentum and end up with no offer. We had to compromise. The proposal we settled on represented the best solution for about 80% of the students," recounts El Ghali.

This agreement included several measures: a gradual implementation of the reform, starting with the 2023-2024 cohort of students; a raise in the trainee students' monthly compensation (from 60 EUR to 120 EUR for third to fifth-year students, and from 190 EUR to 230 EUR for sixth and seventh-year students, respectively); the reversal of the sanctions imposed on student representatives; adjustments and reorganization of exams and training to account for the missed sessions in the previous months.

The deal followed a vote in which students agreed, with a more than 90% participation rate and an approval of 57.8%, to end their 11-month-long open-ended strike.[20] Yet, the settlement is not seen as a win by and for all students. “The proposal we settled on represented the best solution for about 80% of the students,” reported El Ghali. First-year students, for instance, will have to follow the new educational system, with the option of extending it by an additional year if deemed necessary.

Why did the government delay taking these steps? This question surfaces naturally, especially considering that the solution ultimately adopted was nothing new. It was first publicly proposed in parliament by the former Minister of Health Khalit Aït Taleb in the first couple of weeks of the boycott. The absence of effective dialogue and rapid responses to students’ demands from the beginning indicates the government’s Achilles’ heel in its crisis mitigation methods. In light of these setbacks, which expose the frailty of dialogue between government institutions and students, how can the two parties rebuild trust? Will the government find a way to erase the neglect of youth’s voices and the country's health sector?

Students end year-long boycott: what does the future hold for Morocco’s health and education systems?

The strike's aftermath revealed broader challenges. The long-term implications that the government officials and ministries seem not to have accounted for are multiple. Rayan reports that plenty of students who were set on remaining in Morocco to pursue their studies and careers now intend to migrate abroad. Many others decided to pursue their studies in private institutions, while several, in their first year, dropped out altogether. "When people saw some changes, they were ready to wait for more changes to come," says Rayan. "But regardless of higher professional salaries, they still choose to live abroad. The issue isn't money. It's practice conditions that aren't good enough, with outdated equipment and professionals having no individual rights."

This erosion of trust adds to an already critical situation. The country has witnessed episodes of unrest, with an ironic, and perhaps alarming to some, frequency of four years. Recurring dissent, witnessed in major protests in 2011, 2015, 2019,[21] and 2023, highlights unresolved systemic issues. The way the reform was handled, its potential impact, and the recent increase in the privatization of university hospitals contrast with official positions stating that medical training and education are considered strategically crucial within national development priorities.[22] Although Morocco aspires to be a regional leader, the unresolved vulnerabilities in its education and healthcare systems risk jeopardizing its progress.

Morocco’s pursuit of a new development model, ambitious green energy initiatives, and preparations to co-host the 2030 World Cup have drawn international attention. Yet, beneath this progressive facade lies a critical contradiction. These aspirations are overshadowed by systemic neglect in fundamental sectors like public health and education, raising essential questions about the priorities of its rapid growth ambitions.

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32608301/

[2] According to the World Economic Forum 2017-2018 Edition of the “Global Competitiveness Index” Report. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/Arab-World-Competitiveness-Report-2018/WE…

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jQlfth_N54

[4] https://medias24.com/2024/10/11/rentree-universitaire-2024-2025-plus-de…

[5] https://bayanealyaoume.press.ma/pdfar/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaadmUP…

[6] https://medias24.com/2024/06/11/crise-des-etudiants-en-medecine-enfin-l…

[7] https://www.mapnews.ma/fr/actualites/politique/dossier-des-%C3%A9tudian…

[8] https://medias24.com/2024/03/21/la-faculte-de-medecine-et-de-pharmacie-…

[9] https://bayanealyaoume.press.ma/pdfar/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaadmUP…

[10] https://en.hespress.com/91936-indignation-erupts-in-morocco-over-medica…

[11] https://en.hespress.com/91936-indignation-erupts-in-morocco-over-medical-students-treatment-after-sit-in-turns-violent.html

[12] https://en.hespress.com/91936-indignation-erupts-in-morocco-over-medica…