Educational tour of SPbPU and RAFU in Morocco

In promoting Russian engineering education in Morocco, an important step was the opening of the Information Center of SPbPU and the Russian-African Network University (RAFU) consortium in partnership with the Russian-Moroccan Alliance (RMA) in December 2024. In a few months, the center has become a key platform for career guidance and presentations of the university's educational programs. Polytechnic and RAFU were represented in Morocco by Deputy Head of the International Education Department Tatiana Sytnikova and RAFU Project Office Specialist Alexandra Le Gall, while RMA President Said Zuhir attended the exhibition.

The educational initiative gained momentum in April 2025. A delegation from SPbPU-RAFU joined a large-scale exhibition at the Russian Cultural Center in Rabat, organized with the support of Rossotrudnichestvo. The event gathered more than 400 participants: schoolchildren, their parents, and journalists. The guests studied in detail the bachelor's and master's degree programs in engineering and the conditions for obtaining scholarships, including quotas of the Government of the Russian Federation. Alexander Sen, Head of the Russian House in Rabat, noted at the opening ceremony that interest in the Russian language in Morocco has grown significantly.

On April 10, at the largest educational exhibition in Morocco — the International Student Forum in Casablanca — SPbPU presented a unique pre-university training program in French. The course includes not only intensive study of the Russian language but also training in math, physics, and the basics of engineering. This will allow students to smoothly integrate into the Russian academic environment. Already in the first days of the exhibition, more than 600 applicants and their parents visited Polytechnic's stand. A special emphasis was placed on working with parents: the university representatives spoke in detail about security, the infrastructure of the SPbPU international campus, and the cultural adaptation program supported by the PolyUnion volunteer ecosystem. Visitors were particularly interested in internship opportunities in partner companies.

The Student Forum in Casablanca will continue until Sunday. The organizers note that by the second day, the exhibition was visited by several thousand guests: not only schoolchildren and parents, but also university graduates, students from Europe and Asia, and representatives of recruitment agencies. The latter are actively looking for sustainable educational partnerships for African applicants, noting the growing demand for Russian programs in IT, energy, and bioengineering. The Casablanca exhibition was also an excellent opportunity to promote the RAFU brand.

“North Africa today is one of the most open regions for educational exports. It is interesting that the children are eager to learn Russian in Russia, despite courses in Morocco as well. As parents and teachers explain, the key factor is immersion in a cultural environment. St. Petersburg, with its unique atmosphere, and SPbPU, as a flagship of engineering education, become an ideal choice for students and a key 'hub' for educational collaborations.” - Tatiana Sytnikova, Deputy Head of the International Education Department.