It is 5 o'clock in the morning. The awakening is hard for those called to military service in Morocco. After having redoubled their bed and made a quick toilet, the 3,000 young people at the El Hajeb Combined Training Center in the Meknes region are getting ready. Here, men and women are housed in the same boat.
This is a radical change for these young people from civilian life. "It's just motivation, because for one person it's hard to run at 5 am or 6 am, but in a group it becomes easier, it becomes easy," said Ismail Chariki, a young man called .
Solidarity and discipline
Solidarity is one of the values taught with discipline. The 15,000 conscripts of the kingdom began a few days ago basic common training, between theoretical courses and military training. Compulsory military service was reinstated in August 2018 for men and women between the ages of 19 and 25, twelve years after it was abolished.
"They made quite a bit of progress, it was not easy at first to teach them the discipline, the duty and the sense of responsibility, the primary goal was to be able to integrate, and I think that it's quite successful, "says Lieutenant Boutaina Habchaoui, company commander.
Tools to integrate the labor market
After four months of military training, trades will be taught, as in the fields of computer or security. "Once the specialization phase is concluded, young people will be better prepared to enter the labor market as they will be equipped with new skills in different fields", promises Captain Abdelattah Ghannam, head of the studies and programming department in El Hajeb.
While young people account for 65% of the unemployed in Morocco, two-thirds of the quota is voluntary. Most are motivated by pay and prospects. In addition to being housed, dressed and fed in the 14 training centers of the kingdom, young people will receive a monthly balance equivalent of 96 to 185 euros depending on their level of education.