His Majesty King Mohammed VI inaugurated, on May 30 in Tamesna, the City of Trades and Skills (CMC) for the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region, a new-generation vocational training facility based on excellence and innovation.
This City of Trades and Skills (CMC) is part of an overall program to build twelve similar facilities in different regions of the Kingdom, with an estimated investment of 4.4 billion dirhams. It also reflects His Majesty the King’s Special Interest in vocational training as a strategic lever for economic competitiveness and a promising avenue for the professional integration of youth.
The Office for Vocational Training and Employment Promotion (OFPPT) established this facility under High Royal Directives and the new roadmap for the development of vocational training, which defines new material, pedagogical and management criteria to guarantee quality training and convergence between the training provided and the demands of the job market.
In order to carry out its mission, the facility is equipped with classrooms and living quarters that guarantee the development of technical and multidisciplinary skills as well as the personal development of the trainees.
It is home to six sectoral centers dedicated to the acquisition of business skills, with six integrated application platforms for immersive training based on learning by doing, enabling extensive, realistic business simulations to be run throughout the learning process.
This also applies to the “Industry” cluster, which was designed as an educational factory and benefits from the cohabitation of approximately ten different specialties in Quality, Health, Safety, and Environment (QHSE), industrial, electrical, mechanical, and automotive engineering.
The cluster also includes a mini-manufacturing line for electric vehicle charging stations and a full-scale production and maintenance platform managed by multi-disciplinary teams of trainees from the cluster’s different specialties.
The CMC is also home to a “Tourism & Hospitality” cluster, which features a pedagogical hotel and restaurant for preparation suited to real-life working conditions, an “Agriculture” cluster with an educational farm, a “Management and Business” cluster featuring a virtual simulation company, a “Personal and Community Services” cluster with an educational kindergarten and apartment, and a “Digital and Artificial Intelligence” cluster.
The CMC features a number of shared facilities, including a Language and Soft Skills Center, a Career Guidance Center, an Innovation Chain (Coworking, FabLab, Digital Factory, and Incubator), a Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) Studio to support the integration of digital learning by producing digital content for training, a Media Library and a Conference Center.
Accommodation at the new City of Trades and Skills (CMC) includes a residence for interns with 700 beds, a cafeteria, a house, several meeting areas, and sports fields (football, volleyball, handball, and basketball).
Built on a 10-hectare site, the Rabat-Salé-Kenitra City of Trades and Skills (CMC) will further strengthen the training facilities of the Office for Vocational Training and Employment Promotion (OFPPT) in the region, thanks to an annual capacity of 3.560 training positions, which will be increased to 4.560 from the upcoming year, and the two branches attached to the new city, namely the Training Institute for Health Careers in Rabat (currently under construction with a capacity of 560 positions/year) and the Training Institute for Agribusiness in Kénitra (a project with a capacity of 440 interns/year).
The training offered by the City of Trades and Skills (CMC) covers eight professional sectors, including four new ones, carefully selected to reflect the characteristics of the region’s economic fabric. It will provide 105 training courses, including 80 new courses and 25 restructured and updated courses, which reflects a diversified offer aimed at new professions.
The main career fields selected are Digital and Artificial Intelligence (22 courses), Health (15 courses), Agriculture (14 courses), Tourism and Hospitality (13 courses), Management and Business (13 courses), Industry (11 courses), Food and Beverage (11 courses) and Personal and Community Services (6 courses).
In addition to diploma courses at the Specialized Technician, Technician, and Qualification levels, the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra CMC’s training program will also offer short qualifying courses to acquire or develop specific skills and earn a training certificate.
CMC trainees will also benefit from a bridging system to enhance their prospects for career development and integration.
This City of Trades and Skills (CMC) is the result of a partnership between the Office for Vocational Training and Employment Promotion, Hassan the second Fund for Economic and Social Development, and the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Regional Council, with an estimated investment of MAD 380 million.
The City of Trades and Skills of the region of Rabat-Salé-Kénitra (CMC) is the fourth facility of its kind to open its doors to youth undergoing training, after those in Souss-Massa, Oriental, and Laayoune-Sakia-El Hamra that started training between October and November 2022.