Morocco/INDH in Rehamna: Launch of the Second Chance Schools Program

The "Second Chance Schools—New Generation" program was launched on Thursday in the province of Rehamna, as part of the ongoing efforts of the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH) to combat school dropout rates and promote social and professional integration, as well as adaptation to the real needs of the job market.

This program, whose launch ceremony was attended by the governor of Rehamna Province, Aziz Bouignane, local officials, and several stakeholders involved in the program’s implementation, aims to provide new opportunities for education, training, and integration to young people who have left the school system, through pathways tailored to their needs and socioeconomic circumstances, while promoting their acquisition of skills and their gradual integration into educational and professional pathways.

The program established in the province offers several vocational tracks, including electricity, construction, plumbing, culinary arts, information technology, carpentry, aluminum fabrication, and horticulture, enabling participants to develop practical skills aligned with the demands of the job market.

Some 500 participants are benefiting from this program in Rehamna Province through six associations and several centers located in various municipalities, including Bouchane, Skhour Rhamna, Oulad Amer Tizmarine, Bourouss, Ras El Ain, Sidi Bou Othmane, and Nzalat Laadam.

In a statement to MAP, the head of the Social Action Division (DAS) in Rehamna Province, Mohammed El Aïchi, stated that the Second Chance Schools program is an important initiative designed to support young people who have left the education system by offering them a new opportunity for learning, training, and skills development.

He noted that this program is part of the INDH’s approach to investing in human capital, through support for initiatives aimed at young people that seek to build their capacities and facilitate their social and economic integration, emphasizing the importance of partnering with civil society organizations in implementing these initiatives.

For his part, the provincial director of the Ministry of National Education, Preschool Education, and Sports in Rehamna, Hicham Ghazouli, emphasized that the Second Chance Schools program is part of efforts to offer alternative educational and training pathways to out-of-school youth or those who have dropped out, in order to enable them to reconnect with learning and develop their skills.

He also noted that the diversity of the programs offered—particularly in the fields of electricity, construction, plumbing, culinary arts, information technology, carpentry, aluminum fabrication, and horticulture, caters to a variety of profiles and aligns participants with the demands of the job market, thereby helping to improve their prospects for entering the workforce.

The program also includes a support mechanism for rural girls during the transition from elementary school to middle school, with the goal of helping to combat school dropout rates and promote equal opportunities in access to education.

Data for the DAS’s 2025–2026 academic year show encouraging results at the province’s second-chance centers. Specifically, 46 students from the Moussa Ben Noussair center took the third-year middle school exam, 27 of whom passed, while all 20 students from the Bouchane center passed the exam.

According to the same data, the second-chance centers have also contributed to the integration of students into the education system and the labor market, with 27 students from the Moussa Ben Noussair center entering the education system and 19 entering the labor market, while in Bouchane, 19 beneficiaries were integrated into the education system and one beneficiary into the labor market.

Source: www.mapexpress.ma/