King Mohammed VI’s Personal Interest in Upgrading Morocco’s Vocational Training

King Mohammed VI has attached utmost priority to overhauling the country’s vocational training system to enable the youth to easily integrate the job market and contribute to Morocco’s social and economic development.

After he stressed on multiple speeches the need for addressing the mismatch between training and the job market requirements, the King had asked the government to upgrade vocational training at a meeting held on October 1.

The meeting focused on the development and diversification of the vocational training offer and modernization of pedagogical methods. The King then gave the government a three-week deadline for preparing a program for that purpose.

Last week, the King extended the deadline after a request from the head of the government to grant the committee extra time.

In a speech on August, the King had stressed that further attention needed to be given to vocational training at all levels, and to creating a new generation of centers for the vocational training of young people, keeping in mind current needs as well as the particularities and expectations of each region.

Later, at the opening of the Parliament’s fall session (Oct.12), the King insisted on the need “to work on creating more bridges and links between vocational training programs and general education courses within a unified, integrated system. There should also be a balance between theoretical training, on the one hand, and practical, workplace training, on the other.”

In October last year, the King dismissed Larbi Benckheikh, Secretary of State in charge of vocational training and former Director General of the Vocational Training Institute (OFPPT) for falling short of achieving the sector’s objectives.

The job was assigned to Loubna Tricha who has been tasked with revamping the country’s vocational training in a way that fits into job market needs.