The government plans to train 100,000 graduates in the industry sector and 22,000 graduates in the digital transition sector by 2026, as part of the partnership between the university and business, which is an essential link in the promotion of economic dynamics, said Monday in Rabat, the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch.
Speaking at the monthly session on public policy in the House of Representatives on the theme “Higher education”, Akhannouch explained that new training courses have been created in the field of aeronautical and automobile construction, in order to train managers and specialized skills capable of sustaining the competitiveness of the productive sectors and increasing the ability to attract foreign investment, with the objective of training 100,000 engineers, middle managers and senior technicians by 2026.
In the digital transition sector, he continued, a new training program has been developed in order to double the number of graduates and meet current and future needs in this area and reach 22,000 graduates on the horizon. 2026 and 50,000 laureates by 2030, specifying that the social work sector will experience the training of 10,000 specialists in this field by 2030.
Akhannouch also stressed the importance of involving Moroccan skills abroad in teaching and research, at the level of the missions of the presidency of universities and higher education establishments, calling for a reconsideration of the “Fincome” program. , by including the regulatory requirements in the new status of teacher-researchers, with the aim of strengthening the attractiveness of the higher education, scientific research and innovation system for the benefit of these skills.
In this sense, he noted that the extent of national expectations vis-à-vis this expected reform is measured by the ability to keep pace with the major transformations taking place in the Kingdom and in harmony with the objectives of the projects. of the social State, thus putting this reform at the top of the priorities and at the service of the other agendas led by the government, which has also launched contractual training programs which establish the development role of the university in order to support the needs of sector strategies in terms of human capital.
Regarding the health sector upgrading project, the executive is now counting on higher education faculties linked to the medical professions, to increase the number of health personnel by 2030, in order to triple the current workforce, confided the Head of Government.
Regarding the improvement of the quality of public schools, Akhannouch indicated that the government is implementing the 2021-2026 roadmap, with a budget of more than 4 billion dirhams, in the aim of setting up a new engineering for a fundamental training dedicated to the license in education and to set it up as a course of excellence.
He added that this program, which was the subject of an agreement signed between the departments of Finance, National Education and Higher Education, aims to meet current and future needs for teachers of different disciplines as both at the primary and secondary education level, and to allow education license courses to offer outlets for access to teaching professions, by increasing their integration capacities and making them more attractive, which will accommodate approximately 20,000 students per year.
As for strengthening the attractiveness of vocational training, Akhannouch reiterated the government’s desire to develop it so that it is in line with the needs of companies in terms of qualified human resources to improve the opportunities offered to new graduates and meet the needs of the labor market, committing to pay the necessary attention to the pivotal and complementary role that vocational training must play, alongside university education, to train the necessary skills that meet the needs of the different national economic sectors and provide employment opportunities for young people.
The head of government stressed that the urgency of the challenges of higher education and scientific research, and the government’s interest in the emergence of a new generation of Moroccan universities, operating with standards of excellence and renewed governance models, require supporting them and providing them with the appropriate means to carry out the tasks entrusted to them.
Akhannouch recalled that the government has worked since the beginning of its mandate to mobilize and launch a series of initiatives aimed at improving the institutional governance of the higher education sector, increasing its efficiency and creating the necessary foundations to consolidate this new reform in a way that suits all components and objectives of the higher education system, in particular the social agreement signed with the unions on October 20, 2022 and the gradual increase in the budget of the sector to reach in 2023 approximately 15 billion and 215 million dirhams, in addition to the increase in accredited training, particularly professional, which rose to approximately 54% during the last university season.
These measures also included, he added, the strengthening of scientific research and innovation infrastructures, in particular with regard to the establishment of a global and integrated information system, which will contribute to ensuring cybersecurity, in addition to the development of the university housing supply by accelerating the realization of expansion projects in several university cities and by stimulating partnership with the private sector.
The Head of Government underlined that the new National Plan will give high priority to promoting the social inclusion of students, in harmony with the principles of the social State enshrined in the government program, in particular by broadening the base of beneficiaries of university scholarships, specifying that the number of beneficiary students has increased from 385,000 in 2021, to 401,000 in 2022 and 421,000 beneficiary students in 2023.