Mediation to end medical students’ crisis fails before start of new academic season

Agadir24

The file of medical and pharmacy students and the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation has not yet found its way to a solution, which prompted parliamentarians to intervene in an attempt to contain this crisis and discuss a new proposal that satisfies all parties.

In this context, representatives from the two majority parties: Istiqlal and Authenticity and Modernity, invited parents and guardians of students to attend a new meeting at the parliamentary level, to find a way out of the crisis of medical colleges that have been paralyzed for more than 9 months.

This step was met with strong opposition from students and some parents due to the existence of a representative body for those concerned with the crisis, which is the National Committee for Students of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy.

The parents and guardians of the students who initially accepted the invitation decided to back down and not attend the meeting that was scheduled to be held tomorrow, Wednesday, in Parliament, due to the consensus of the majority of students to fail any meeting that does not include them, given that they are the ones directly concerned with the crisis.

According to one of the fathers who was prepared to attend the aforementioned meeting before he backed out, “the invitation was initially general to all fathers and guardians without contacting specific names or choosing representatives of the fathers to attend the meeting,” noting that “after this formula failed, the initiators moved to include the students in the meeting alongside their guardians, which the students did not accept.”

The same spokesman explained that “some parents insisted on attending the meeting to hear about the latest developments in this file, which concerns 25,000 students, regardless of its outcomes and proposed solutions.”

The same source reported that “the invited parents insisted on inviting the students again to dialogue without involving the guardians and accelerating the dialogue rounds before the start of the new season to save it from the specter of a blank year,” noting that those responsible for the invitation responded that “the students’ position is known, which is to insist on 7 years of study or nothing.”

Medical and pharmacy students were surprised by the news circulating about the possibility of holding a new parliamentary mediation that would involve their parents in the dialogue despite the presence of legitimately elected student representatives, stressing that “the solution to the crisis will not go beyond the framework of understanding between the ministry and the student representatives,” and that “saving the university season from the specter of a blank year is still possible if the ministry abandons its disdain for the issue.”

A source from within the National Committee for Medical, Dental and Pharmacy Students stated that “the attempt by certain parties to involve parents and guardians in the new mediation to resolve the crisis, which is approaching its ninth month, is a new approach that will not be logical in the presence of elected representatives of the students,” stressing that “the solution cannot be achieved outside this framework.”

The same source criticised “the ministry’s silence throughout the month of August”, expressing surprise at “the minister in charge’s disregard for what could happen in the absence of any communication or agreement with the students early next month to avoid the specter of a blank year”.