“It’s more than just the opportunity to travel, learn a new language, and meet new people. It’s a way to get a first-class educational experience absolutely debt-free.”

Tuesday, September 22, 2020 — Rabat, Morocco – The Embassies of Eastern Caribbean States in the Kingdom of Morocco (ECS Embassies) recently hosted a webinar aimed at raising awareness for the academic scholarship opportunities currently available to Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) nationals for this upcoming academic year. 

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Queeley of the ECS Embassies stated that the intention of the webinar was not only to share information about the scholarship programme and the Moroccan higher education landscape, but also to create a platform to allow current Caribbean students who are enrolled in the programme to share their experiences of living and studying in Morocco with prospective applicants back home.

“This scholarship progamme is a golden opportunity and an excellent example of diplomatic cooperation in the area of human resource development. Our goal is to ensure that citizens in our Member States take full advantage of the academic opportunities provided by the Government of Morocco. This is why we have invited not only representatives from the Moroccan Agency of International Cooperation (AMCI), but importantly, we’ve invited Ms. Leeryk De Lima, President of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean Students in Morocco (OECSM), along with her fellow students, to speak with us today and share their experiences.” – His Excellency Ian M. Queeley, Ambassador and Head of Mission, Embassies of Eastern Caribbean States to the Kingdom of Morocco.

While elaborating on the mission of the OECSM, Ms. De Lima remarked that “the students wanted to bring some of the Caribbean to Morocco while facilitating an exchange between our Caribbean culture and traditional Moroccan culture. Most importantly, we established the organisation to represent the Caribbean students’ voice in Morocco and to support not only current students but also future students who are interested in embarking on this academic journey.”

“It’s a really unique opportunity where students not only get the chance to experience a new culture and see a new place but to also master a foreign language. This makes graduates more marketable and opens a world of opportunities to them.” – Leeryk De Lima, Saint Lucian undergraduate student in economics.

The audience also had a chance to hear from Ms. Kerlyn Frank, a newly minted architect from Grenada. Ms. Frank completed both her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Architecture degrees with first class honors while studying in Morocco as part of the scholarship programme. While sharing her experience, she stated that the Caribbean region needs more architects. “Our region experiences hurricanes every year yet our construction laws and guidelines are still rudimentary. This means that there’s still a lot of work to be done in developing our architectural infrastructure.” 

“I’m really encouraging everyone to take advantage of this scholarship. It’s more than just the opportunity to travel, learn a new language, and meet new people. It’s also a way to get a first-class educational experience absolutely debt-free.” – Kerlyn Frank, Grenadian recent graduate with a Master’s degree in Architecture.

Mr. Benraiss, Head of the Academic Unit of the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation, also took the opportunity to provide an overview of the academic scholarship programme and to field scholarship and application-related questions from the audience.

Interested in learning more about this scholarship opportunity? Please visit this link. The application deadline has been extended to September 30th, 2020.

The full webinar can be viewed below and on the OECS Commission’s Facebook page here.