Fez, Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI) and Alstom Cabliance, a French specialist in rail transport, have signed, on the sidelines of the regional conference on higher education, scientific research, and innovation in the region of Fez-Meknes, a strategic partnership on training through alternating immersion in the company, thus strengthening the collaboration and transfer of knowledge and skills between AUI and Alstom while focusing on the creation of a shared and sustainable value-added.
The axes of this cooperation include, among others:
1. An innovative "Co-op" program consisting of alternating education at the University and work in the Company, whereby Alstom hosts students from Al Akhawayn for a multi-year alternation between studies and work;
2. Specialized training provided by AUI professors to Alstom executives;
3. Research projects involving AUI Business School faculty and Alstom executives; and
4. Organization of scientific and/or technical events of common interest.
This partnership is part of Al Akhawayn University's roadmap to play a pioneering role in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region to reinvent university education and meet the challenges of the 21st century.
"Aware of the new pressing and changing needs of the 21st Century Enterprise, as well as the imperative of the productivity and well-being of Generation-Z graduates, Al Akhawayn University has initiated an innovative strategy, aiming at inspiring the student, offering him/her a transformative experience, and creating a double-impact potentiating for both the Enterprise and the Generation-Z youth. This action is materialized through the creation of Co-Op programs with an alternating immersion in the Company", underlines Dr. Amine Bensaid, President of Al Akhawayn University.
This strategy is not limited to salary formulas, since it also encourages entrepreneurship, with the creation of two incubators managed by students and supervised by top managers of nationally- and internationally-recognized companies.