Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Education and Vocational Training Said Amzazi inaugurated on Sunday, October 20 the construction work for a multidisciplinary university in Taounate in northern Morocco.
Taounate is a town located 284.6 kilometers away from the city of Fez.
The university will be built in an area of more than 54 hectares.
The two-year project will cost MAD 100 million. The project is in line with the ministry’s strategy to bring university services closer to students in the region, whose number exceeds 11,600.
The university will house four amphitheaters with a capacity of 1,400 seats, 14 classrooms, 10 multimedia rooms, a conference room, a liverary and two sports platforms.
Amzazi told MAghreb Arab Press (MAP) that the new university will house 5,000 students.
“The purpose of establishing this institution is to facilitate access to the higher education system and scientific research in the province,” the minister said.
Morocco witnessed a wave of protests in the region in 2016-2017. Commonly known as the Hirak Rif movement, the popular uprise came about as citizens in the Rif region and northern Morocco condemned the lack of universities and hospital to meet their basic rights.
In response, Morocco’s government vowed to satisfy citizen’s needs by launching projects in order to meet the population’s demands.
Despite the series of government projects in response to popular demands, governor of the Bank Al Maghrib (BAM) Abdellatif Jouahri said in July that the major projects achieved in 2018 failed to meet social expectations.
Jouahri also recalled statistics of the High Commissioner for Planning (HCP), emphasizing that unemployment fell to 9.8% in 2018.
Despite the slight changes in employment rate, unemployment among youth aged 15 to 24 remains high, especially in urban areas.
HCP said in a report that unemployment hovers around 40% in some urban areas.
