Twenty-seven medical students are set to appear in court on October 23 after being charged with insubordination and unauthorized assembly during protests against deteriorating educational conditions.
The General Attorney at Rabat’ Court of First Instance issued the summons following their arrest during demonstrations organized by the National Committee of Medical, Dental, and Pharmacy Students.
The students were detained on Thursday after protests at university hospitals highlighted escalating tensions between medical students and regulatory authorities, who have been criticized for failing to address students’ demands for improved training and educational environments.
Public forces intervened on Wednesday to prevent a sit-in by medical students outside the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in the capital.
The students’ protests are part of a broader movement to pressure authorities into resolving ongoing issues within medical education.
Additionally, student and union organizations have called for respect for the right to peaceful protest and urged immediate solutions to the crisis affecting thousands of students across various medical faculties in Morocco, ensuring the continuity of education and the quality of medical training in the country.
The dispute between the government and the students erupted when the administration decided to lower the number of years of study from seven to six.
The demonstrators urged the government to take responsibility and resolve the situation as soon as possible, while also underlining the importance of improving the conditions of medical and pharmacy schools.
The administration and students are accusing each other of worsening the problem and inflaming tensions inside medical and pharmacy colleges, while public opinion is growing anxious about the future of a whole generation of doctors and pharmacists.
The administration blames the students for their “intransigence and insistence” in boycotting the tests, despite the fact that the boycott is based on the installation of a new framework for the medical training system beginning with the next academic year.
The current situation jeopardizes both the students’ futures and Morocco’s health-care system, including reviewing the fines imposed on some students after passing the examinations and compensating them for missing hospital training days.