Moroccan business-minded graduate students interested in studying in Spain now have a chance to do so. On September 19, 2019, a ceremony introducing the “Young Generation As Change Agents Project” took place in Rabat at the home of the Spanish Ambassador to Morocco, Ricardo Diez-Hochleitner. The entrepreneurial project aims to teach Moroccan graduate students “the implementation of business and entrepreneurship projects,” says a representative of the Spanish Service for the Internationalization of Education (SEPIE); the organization is in charge of coordinating the opportunity.
The project will be divided into 20 months and has three phases. In the pre-departure phase, organizers will look at fundamental socio-economic sectors in Morocco than select candidates. In the mobility phase, up to 100 young Moroccan graduates with a master’s degree will be chosen to go to Spain for a one-year all-expenses-paid end-of-masters project. Upon returning to Morocco, a third phase will take place, whereby what they learned will be implemented. One winning project will be integrated into Morocco’s enterprise and entrepreneurship network.
The Young Generation Project “does not consist of a classic scholarship program, it is a very special initiative…and it reflects a very strong partnership between Spain and Morocco in education and migration,” said ambassador Diez-Hochleitner.
The $2.85M project was launched by the European Commission, CE-DG Home, with MPF Mobility Partnership Fund instrument, and implemented by the International Center. It is primarily funded by the European Union who will pay for 95% of the costs. In addition to SEPIE, the “Young Project” is working in collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Labor, Migration and Social Security and the Moroccan ministries: Ministry delegated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation International Labor and Occupational Integration and Higher Education.