HRH Princess Lalla Asmaa Chairs Hearing Impaired Children’s 2024-2025 School-Year Graduation Ceremony

The ceremony embodies His Majesty King Mohammed VI’s to ensure equal chances for all children, regardless of their disability, as well as the strong commitment of HRH Princess Lalla Asmaa to improving the living conditions of deaf and hearing impaired children in Morocco.

Prior to setting out for the ceremony, Her Royal Highness visited the psychology center at the Foundation’s head office, which offers psychosocial support for children and training for their families, as part of a holistic approach to promoting children’s autonomy and self-fulfillment.

HRH Princess Lalla Asmaa also paid visits to workshops conducted by young students who showcased their ingenuity, artistic flair and capacity for innovation, including a prize-winning robot in a national competition, exquisite miniature works of art and emotionally-charged paintings.

At the outset of the ceremony, Karim Essakalli, deputy president of the Lalla Asmaa Foundation, delivered a speech in which he stressed that this ceremony “celebrates more than simply the end of an academic cycle. It embodies the culmination of many efforts, resilience and personal and collective progress,” adding that “today, we not only only celebrate a year of learning, but life journeys transformed through education, therapy, listening and, above all, hope.”

In this context, he pointed out that this year, 10 young people from the Lalla Asmaa Foundation have obtained their baccalaureate, several of them with honors, 8 have validated their university degree, 11 are enrolled in a master’s program, and one student has just defended his doctoral thesis, adding that these achievements, exceptional in more ways than one, are living proof that deafness is not an obstacle, but a challenge that can be met when properly accompanied.

He added that 2025 also marks an important milestone for the Foundation, stressing that thanks to the vision and determination of HRH Princess Lalla Asmaa, the Foundation is committed to opening new centers within a year, where children will benefit from all the screening, care and training facilities.

On this occasion, Essakalli recalled Her Royal Highness’s official visit to Gallaudet University in Washington, the only university in the world exclusively dedicated to the deaf and hearing impaired, noting that this trip was not only a source of inspiration, but also a call to action.

“Under the impetus of Her Royal Highness, the Lalla Asmaa Foundation is resolutely committed to working to ensure that Morocco hosts, in the very near future, the second university in the world exclusively reserved for the deaf and hard of hearing,” he maintained, adding that this will be an African and Arab university, inclusive, open and commensurate with the ambitions held out for these youth.

Her Royal Highness then chaired the signing ceremony for three partnership agreements aimed at strengthening digital inclusion, professional insertion and scientific cooperation.

The first agreement, which aims to enable the Foundation’s students to benefit from specialized training in cybersecurity and digital transformation, was signed by Essakalli, Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of Digital Transition and Administration Reform, and Mohammed Rhachi, President of Mohammed V University in Rabat.

The second agreement, signed by Essakalli and Adil Bennani, Administrator of the Label Vie Group, covers the integration of Lalla Asmaa Foundation graduates into the job market.

The third agreement aims to strengthen cooperation between the Mohammed VI Foundation for Sciences and Health and the Lalla Asmaa Foundation, in the academic, scientific and research fields. It was signed by Karim Essakalli and Youns Bjijou, deputy director of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Sciences and Health.

The three agreements reflect the Foundation’s determination to support the youth well beyond their schooling: by giving them access to the digital skills of tomorrow, by facilitating their professional integration, and by being ever more open to academic and scientific cooperation. The aim is to prepare deaf children to become fully integrated citizens and professionals in an inclusive digital society.

On this occasion, Her Royal Highness attended artistic presentations, including a song dedicated to the children performed by international singer Farah El Dibany, and shows performed by the Foundation’s students, supervised by Moroccan drama teachers and professionals. The show retraced the children’s journey from silence to speech, and expressed their dreams for the future.

HRH Princess Lalla Asmaa then presented diplomas and Awards to the first doctor and the Foundation’s valedictorians who graduated from the Faculty of Science in Rabat.

The ceremony was attended by members of the government and the Board of Directors of the Lalla Asmaa Foundation, representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited to Rabat, the Foundation’s partners, elected representatives and a number of prominent figures.

Editorial team/le7tv