Morocco’s government has a plan to reduce unemployment by expanding job training. Vocational education will provide the labor market with 750,000 graduates over the next four years. Training institutions, both private and public, expect to have a 50% increase in enrollments.
Different measures will be taken to meet the targets. Strengthening partnerships with chambers of commerce, professional associations and business will be promoted and on the job training will be encouraged. Morocco wants to set up sector-based vocational training with professionals on a contractual basis.
A steering committee will be set up to allocate approximately 10 million dirhams for studying the best strategies for realizing these objectives. Actual needs of the labor market will be looked at and a focus on adding new dynamics to the training sector. An emergency action plan will result from the studies enabling necessary reforms to be implemented by the next academic year.
Employment and Vocational Training Minister, Jamal Aghhmani, stressed that the vocational training sector needs to share its strategy with the professional work world. Needs of the future labor market in terms of skills and training can be determined from such an alliance. The strategy will also allow the needs of a growing number of workers who do not fit into the market and the problem of Moroccan unemployment in the country.
Professionals who teach in vocational training institutions say that is not work that is lacking but a lack of trained people to fill the positions. The tourism industry is looking for 70,000 graduates, information and technology industry, including communications, need at least 60,000 as does the agriculture industry. Young people want to learn a trade and have effective career guidance system.
Vocational training is becoming more and more valued. Approximately 4,000 students have joined vocational training in recent years with more Moroccans attending College. Of these, 80% will receive their diploma with almost half earning high marks in the programs. The Moroccan government needs to open at least fifty new training centers and increase the capacity of ten others by 2010. To help graduates find a position, a plan is set up to open 20 national agencies to promote the work and skills to meet a target of seventy agencies in 2008. Another four agencies will be set up to help graduates opting to look for employment in other countries.
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by Carole Morris
