Education minister denies rumours

Morocco's Minister of Higher Education Lahcen Daoudi Casablanca - Raja Battaoui The Minister of Higher Eduacation in Morocoo's Islamist-led government, Lahcen Daoudi denied circulating rumours on Saturday that he would resign if his plan of forcing financial charges on rich students  who want to join the state run universities is not to approved. The Moroccan daily al-Sabah had earlier quoted al-Daoudi as saying that he wouldn't remain in his office unless his ministry's plan of finding solutions for funding higher education in Morocco is to be adopted by the government. A plan that included applying annual charges on the students who belong to rich families and keeping the charge-free education only for those who can't afford charges. However, Daoudi responded to al-Sabah news saying that his ministry's plan is "only a proposal" and the final decision is back to the two houses of the Moroccan government, denying the comments attributed to him by the daily. The minister urged the national press in Morocco to act "more responsibly" and take news from its "true sources", in order to avoid creating problems and uncertainty about his government's work. Daoudi added that he will discuss the financial problems suffered in the higher education sector with the Moroccan lawmakers in next week's session of the Moroccan parliament. He will also tackle the problems facing the Moroccan students who are doing their postgraduate studies abroad in addition to the preparations for the academic session of 2012-2013 which is expected to start next month.