Summary :

This study is motivated by the poor accumulation of physical capital in the Maghreb countries, the low levels of national savings and the inability to overcome this weakness through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). These factors have caused the necessity to find other sources for growth. Thus, it is very important to develop an educational and training strategy to build human capital and to address the needs of these economies. By improving the skills, shaping competencies, developing efficacy and mobility of the labor, education will certainly contribute to the enhancement of the Total Factor Productivity (PTF).

In this context, the main objective of the study is to evaluate the pace, the quality and nature of the integration of the professional training graduates in the economies of Tunisia and Morocco.

This study is structured around five chapters:

Chapter 1 is dedicated to an in-depth analysis of professional training in Morocco. It puts emphasis on the public policies and the reforms initiated in the eighties. After a historical reminder on the genesis of professional training, Mr. Driss EL YACOUBI shows that this later contributed, not only, to the improvement of the qualification rate of the persons who reach the job market, but it also widely facilitated the linkages of the educational system with its economic environment. However, in spite of this progress there are still needs of restructurings and the strengthening the professional training instrument

Chapter 2 proposes a national development strategy and the requirements to review the professional Training – Qualification instrument in Morocco. Having detailed the various phases of the development of Morocco and the reforms organized by the Moroccan authorities in the various branches of industry, Mr. Mohamed ELMERGHADI quantifies the sector-based needs in professional training in connection with the emergence of new professions. After the success – with mixed results, so far -, of macroeconomic reforms in Morocco since its independence, the country is ready today to face the competition which dictated the opening in which Morocco has widely adopted, with an increased emphasis on educational system.

Chapter 3 offers an analysis of institutional aspects of professional training in Tunisia. Mr. Jamal BOUOIYOUR describes briefly the genesis of this system and pointed out that Tunisia in spite of remarkable progress, suffers from some problems related to the low and partial integration of the professional training system in the general system of training. We find this phenomenon in Morocco also. In a more precise way, the implement of professional training turns out incapable to anticipate future professions. Furthermore, when certain professions are not any more asked on the labour market, the implement continues to form candidates without taking into account the demand in labour market. Also, the professional training continues to convey, as in Morocco, a negative image with the public as well as companies. Finally, linkages between professional training and the other elements of the system of training are little numerous, or even inexistent. All these dysfunctionalities, and many others, exist well and truly in both countries. The detailed historical reminder supplied in the first chapter by Mr. EL YACOUBI confirms it. However, we can reveal important differences in the implements of professional training of both countries. At first, the production of diplomas is three times more important for Morocco than in Tunisia, then, the restructuring of the sector of the vocational training began rather in Morocco with regard to Tunisia and finally, the organization of the training is more effective in Morocco compared to Tunisia.

Chapter 4 confirms exactly the previous evidence and points out that Morocco ” made better” that Tunisia at the level of the impact of the human resources – professional training – on the economic growth. Jamal BOUOIYOUR and Saïd HANCHANE use the Solow augmented model to quantify the long-term determinants of growth in both countries.

In the Tunisian case, these later are the capital in the broad sense (physical and human), the growth of the population and the lagged GDP (what confirms the occurrence of the catching-up phenomenon). In Morocco, we find the same variables except the capital (in the broad sense) which is not always significant. If at the level of the general training Tunisia is more successful than Morocco, at the level of the professional training Morocco is better than Tunisia.

Chapter 5 presents a micro econometric study based on data of the OFPPT graduates over the period 2000, 2001 and 2002. The objective of this chapter is to estimate the performance and the return of professional training in term of integration of the professional training graduates in labour market. The estimations are made using two models. The first one is a model with fixed effect which is converging and efficient in the context of this study. The second is a model with heterogeneous parameters where we consider the effects of factors of integration that can be scattered and vary from an individual to the other one.

The results show that globally the implement of professional training is efficient as far as the rates of employability are very significant. The authors – Jamal BOUOIYOUR, Audrey DUMAS and Saïd HANCHANE – conclude that the graduates of the professional training are confronted with a double problem. On one hand, the difficulties inherent to the Moroccan labour market which has its own specific logic, and on the other hand, an effect of reputation pertaining to the system of professional training. This effect of reputation spread beyond the general public to reach companies. Also, the public policies of assistant to the employability of graduates from professional training are inefficient, while networks and practices of cooptation are the mean privileged persons to fit easily into the labour market. The role of the State seems crucial at this level to overcome not only against this phenomenon, but also to put the professional training in the heart of the implement of training and educational policy in Morocco.

Concerning job training, we highlight that the special training contracts (contrats spéciaux de formation) is an efficient measure of public policy. Indeed, job training programs increase the competitiveness and the performances of Moroccan firms. Besides, these effects are even better when the implementation of training by Moroccan firms is part of a real strategy of human resources development. On the contrary, when firms consider the public policy only as a financing opportunity, they are severely sanctioned.