The European Union is set to grant Morocco 1.5 billion (€139.16 million) to strengthen the country’s distance education mechanisms and ensure the continuation of Moroccan students’ learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Morocco’s Minister of Economy Mohamed Benchaaboun, Minister of Education Said Amzazi, and the Director of the National Agency for the Fight against Illiteracy, Mahmoud Abdel Samih, signed the agreement with the EU ambassador to Morocco, Claudia Wiedey, on Monday April 27.

“Education, skills development and individual fulfilment which are at the heart of our action, are an integral part of the development of societies in the 21st century,” Wiedey said.

“At this particular time when the whole world is affected by this pandemic, we must invest even more in skills and human development,” she added.

The new aid is not the first of its kind from Morocco’s oldest ally.

In March, the EU allocated an additional €450 million to its Moroccan assistance budget to support the North African country in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Olajumoke Adeleke