Morocco settles dispute with unemployed graduates

2007-08-22

A recent agreement between the Moroccan government and a coalition of unemployed university graduates promises to resolve a dispute indicative of the country's greater problems in education and employment. The government will provide preferential treatment in entrance exams and additional training to the complainants, provided they cease their public protests.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 22/08/2007

[Getty Images] After many demonstrations and protracted negotiations, the government and a group of unemployed degree-holders have signed an agreement.

Moroccan university graduates have long faced a problem of unemployment and many of them have united to demand positions in the country's civil service. The crisis is finally progressing towards a favourable outcome. In an August 17th meeting, Prime Minister Driss Jettou and representatives of the nearly three thousand degree-holders concluded an agreement to integrate the complainants into the professional world.

Under the government's plan the concerned graduates will receive priority in passing recruitment examinations into the civil service. The plan was conceived in early August, after the citizens' group rejected other governmental initiatives like the "Moukawalati" programme that provides financing to potential business owners.

Lists containing the names of all citizens covered under the agreement will be distributed to all ministries, public establishments and businesses. The government has also declared it will establish a special commission to oversee the process and inform candidates of their priority status.

Driss El Gurerraoui, Councillor to the Prime Minister, stated that the period for direct recruitment into the civil service has passed but the new agreement will allow additional positions to be offered to unemployed degree-holders.

A re-training programme has also been adopted, with the aim of providing approximately 1,000 unemployed degree-holders with an opportunity to learn a new, more marketable skill. They will receive six months to one year of supplementary training at the best institutes, professional schools and universities including Al Akhawayn, the Institute of Tourism and others. The programme will begin in September. According to the government, which will assume all of the training costs, the objective is to facilitate the citizens' integration into the job market, particularly into sectors promoting the Moroccan economy.

The beneficiaries have expressed their satisfaction with the outcome, saying the government initiative is a prelude to a true solution to the problem of unemployed degree-holders. Abdellatif El Moustakfi, Secretary-General of the National Group of Unemployed Degree-Holders reported that the signing of this agreement in the presence of the Prime Minister is a promising initiative. "I hope the resolution of this issue will be done with a social approach. In fact, it is necessary to take into account the age of the group members and the category of their degrees," he said.

Jamal Fellah, a law degree holder, stated the initiative will change the lives of a good number of degree-holders. "There are many still awaiting a similar decision. Some of them are over the age of forty and they are finally going to be able to find a job," he said.

In return for the government's assistance, the group members involved are required to cease all forms of protest in the street or in front of public buildings as they have done in the past.

The present agreement is designed to benefit degree holders only. It does not attempt to address the full extent of unemployment in the country. Hundreds of unemployed salary workers participate regularly in sit-ins, soliciting the government for the creation of new jobs in the civil service. Some have attempted suicide, even setting themselves on fire in Rabat's public square. They have no confidence in the private sector and believe that because the state trained and shaped them, it thus has a duty to guarantee them a profession worthy of their level of study.