Spain launches new programme to train Moroccan youths

2008-10-30

New school workshops will open in several Moroccan provinces, to teach young people how to integrate into the marketplace and preserve their heritage.

By Mawassi Lahcen for Magharebia in Casablanca – 30/10/08

[Mawassi Lahcen] Ambassador Luis Planas Puchades of Spain (left) discusses a new initiative to train young Moroccans with INDH co-ordinator Abdelaziz Dades.

The Spanish International Co-operation Agency launched a new development programme in Morocco that will combine two goals: to train and qualify young people for the working world, and to restore and preserve the nation's cultural and historical heritage.

The "School Workshop" programme, announced Tuesday (October 28th), will be rolled out initially in several provinces. Students aged 15 to 25 will learn crafts related to the preservation of cultural legacy and the restoration of monuments and historical areas.

In a news conference Tuesday, Spanish Ambassador to Morocco Luis Planas Puchades said that the programme is part of Spain's contribution to Morocco's National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), which was launched by King Mohammed VI in May 2005.

He said that the programme is a replica of Spain’s initiative of school workshops that continues to be a valuable asset in the social work pattern and was exported to 15 countries in South America.

"Morocco, with its rich and diverse history and civilisation, is a fertile ground for such a programme," said Puchades in the news conference. The programme will address the challenges facing society, "at the top of which are engaging and employing young people, in addition to preserving cultural heritage."

The Moroccan government created a special association to oversee and direct the new programme. It includes the ministries working with employment, occupational training, culture, tourism and traditional industries, in addition to the committee in charge of the INDH.

Abdelhamid Aljamri, president of the new association, said that the experiment will be launched in Tetouan, where the first workshop will start in a few weeks.

"The main question in our minds during this programme will be about the future of youth," said Aljamri.

"What are they going to do after they graduate the programme?" he asked. "Will they have better chances to find work and integrating socially based in what they've learned?"

Graduates of the programme will be given certificates to recognise their vocational skills. The new association will help them integrate into the marketplace.

"The importance of the initiative lies in placing culture and the preservation of the historic legacy and civilisation at the heart of human development and the fight against poverty," said Abdelaziz Dades, co-ordinator of the INDH.

Dades said that Spain was the first country to support the INDH, and that it continues to finance social projects in Morocco, increasing financial aid from 81 million euros in 2007 to 200 million in 2008.

Relations between the two countries are only expected to strengthen, with the prime ministers meeting in a week to discuss the foundation of the new structure for their relations, especially after Morocco has recently been granted "advanced status" by the EU.