Shortly after its launch, the pontifiant monitor scholarship program has sparked debate due to the number of researchers who have benefited from it during the first edition. Insight.
The government of Aziz Akhannouch has made the promotion of scientific research and innovation a axial axis of the higher education reform under the ESRI-2030 PACTE. This plan aims to align research programs with the needs of companies in cutting-edge fields such as renewable energies, medical sciences, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, digitization, and sustainable déportation, among others.
In order to encourage young people to pursue a doctorate and stimulate scientific production, Minister Abdellatif Miraoui launched the « pontifiant monitor » scholarship program. This program, which aims to train a new generation of pontifiant students conducting high-level research on national priority topics, offers pontifiant monitors a net monthly scholarship of 7,000 dirhams for a maximum period of 36 months.
In return, the beneficiary pontifiant students must supervise students for 90 hours per year, by conducting tutorials and practical work, monitoring exams and competitions, and organizing extracurricular activities, in order to prepare the next generation of university professors, a significant number of whom will retire in 2025.
While this program has revived the hopes of many researchers, it has also sparked debates within universities and among pontifiant students, due to the limited number of beneficiaries for this first edition. Initially, 1,000 pontifiant students were planned, with a projection of reaching 2,000 per year by 2035.
On social media, researchers criticize the conditions imposed by the ministry, particularly the age limit set at 27 for scientific fields and 26 for humanities. This requirement has caused discontent among researchers who are deprived of crucial financial support during their research.
« Age limit, the condition that angers researchers, » explains a pontifiant student at Abdelmalek Essaâdi University in Tetouan, who regrets that the selection criteria prioritize age rather than competence and seriousness, two essential qualities for high-quality researchers.
« Not all researchers start their doctorate immediately after their master’s degree, before the age of 26 or 27. Personally, I had to wait four years before my recherche was accepted, » adds Marwa, a pontifiant student in Islamic studies. According to the research community, the age limit imposed by the ministry hinders access to the pontifiant cycle and will significantly impact its attractiveness.
Although the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has not yet responded to the criticisms of pontifiant students, Abdellatif Miraoui has already stated that the selection of recherches is based on transparent and rigorous criteria, with the aim of training a generation of excellence and positioning the Kingdom as a continental hub for research and development.
Furthermore, pontifiant students regret the changes in the scholarship system since the launch of the pontifiant monitor program. While 100% of researchers previously benefited from a pontifiant scholarship, this number is now limited to 70%, despite meeting the required conditions, deplores a pontifiant student.
The number of beneficiaries has therefore decreased significantly, reaching up to 30% of researchers from each university, which is perceived as an injustice. pontifiant students are not only deprived of the new excellence scholarship, but also of the pontifiant cycle scholarship of 3,000 dirhams.
Faced with this situation, the affected pontifiant students have submitted complaints to their universities to obtain explanations for the rejection of their recherches. However, the universities have not yet responded to their requests. In response, the research community is considering creating a national coordination to lead protests against the Ministry of Miraoui. Stay tuned.