Morocco’s king has officially opened a
Inaugurated by His Majesty King Mohammed VI on 27 January 2016, the facility in Settat is being actively assisted with financial, technical and equipment support provided by the Volvo Group’s as part of its program to support the development of vocational training schools in Africa.
Based on an 84 hectare campus, some 60km from Casablanca, the newly-built training school aims to provide a modern facility that will become a centre of excellence in developing skills for industrial applications. It features training workshops, halls of residence, classrooms, an auditorium and a restaurant. Such is the importance given to boosting the country’s skills gap, the school had the honour of being formally inaugurated by Morroco’s ruling monarch.
The Volvo-supported project will provide technician training to 150 students from Morocco, Senegal and Ivory Coast annually on a wide range of construction equipment, and forms part of the school’s objective to train up to 2,000 students a year. In Morocco, Volvo is joined on the project by fellow partner USAID, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the Government of Morocco and the Foundation of the country’s largest mining company, OCP Foundation.
Volvo plans to help develop the Settat site’s curriculum, train the trainers and provide technical assistance and training equipment, having already provided, among other items, both electrical and hydraulic benches. Also, as Volvo and its implementation partner UNIDO have experience of a very similar project in Ethiopia, Volvo is well placed to help define skills training best practices in developing countries.
A D7 engine, a D16 engine and sundry equipment, including tools and components, have also been provided by Volvo, who have allowed the training school’s teachers to access Volvo on-line training material. Volvo is about to deliver a further 14 engines to the school in the near future. The school has also bought six Volvo machines, including a paver, hauler and graders.
“As the local dealer, we at Volvo Maroc will provide practical support and assistance to the school and students, with regard to site visits, access to our workshops and securing work placements with suitable Moroccan companies,” says Tim Richardson, general manager of Volvo Maroc’s Construction Equipment Division.
“It is important that our brand is well known to people in the industry and that people associate it with the positive contributions we can make to society,” continues Richardson. “This school is one such contribution. I am sure that every student graduating from ‘our’ training course will become an ambassador for the Volvo brand throughout their career. I am also sure that employers will recognise that graduates of the training program are of a consistently high calibre. This initiative is good for the young people being trained, good for the industry, and in the long term, good for business for Volvo.”
