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The coronavirus health crisis has affected many workers in Germany, especially students who heavily rely on their part-time jobs to get by. Foreign students, including Moroccans, are also on the same boat as they have seen their financial situation deteriorate amid the global health crisis.
To help these students who lost their jobs because of the economic crisis triggered by Covid-19, Germany has decided to financially support them through new interest-free loans.
According to a document sent to Yabiladi by German higher education expert Njomza Zeqiri, 5,297 Moroccan students in Germany could be eligible to apply for the new loan. Moroccans studying in Germany «are the second largest group of North African foreign students who could benefit from this offer to alleviate their financial difficulties», the same document reported.
Interest-free loans for international students
The loans are also available for foreign students who are not eligible for BAföG, Germany's Federal Training Assistance Act for students at secondary schools and universities, or other forms of income such as scholarships. The loan will be available to foreign students who have applied since June 1, 2020.
According to the same source, foreign students can get up to €650 by applying for this loan. The latter can be issued in payments of at least €100 per month, through an online application available on the website of the German state-owned development bank KfW.
KfW Group CEO Dr Günther Bräunig said he is confident that the new measures are being provided to all students financially affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said that thanks to the interest-free loan phase, students could continue their education «even if their part-time work dries up or they have less support from their parents, who are likely to face similar difficulties».
For the record, 90 percent of international students in Germany have been affected by the coronavirus crisis, according to a survey conducted by educational platform Studying-in-Germany.org. About two-thirds of students in Germany work while studying, while the number of foreign students is even higher, three-quarters of them depend financially on their part-time jobs.
