Emmanuel Macron, who presented his reform on Thursday, wants in particular to strengthen the place of internships in companies in the sectors of the professional path.
Emmanuel Macron continues his field visits and announcements, to turn the page on pension reform. The President of the Republic went, Thursday, May 4, to Saintes (Charente-Maritime) to present a reform for vocational high schools. These measures will affect more than 650,000 students, with vocational high school students representing nearly a third of all high school students, according to figures published in August 2021 by the Ministry of National Education.
The Head of State intends to strengthen the place of business in training, by increasing the duration of internships carried out by high school students and by assigning them, by 2025, a “mentor” from the world of work. . A “business office” will also be created in each vocational high school” For “supporting young people in finding internships” Or “developing partnerships”. The links between the vocational school and the business world should therefore be strengthened, which the players in the sector do not see favorably.
Concern about general teachings
The extension of the duration of internships, in terminal pro, is one of their concerns. “This will be done to the detriment of general and theoretical lessons”fears Philippe Dauriac, national secretary in charge of the professional path of the CGT Educ’action. “However, students need these inputs, because they cannot learn everything in a company”he explains to franceinfo, taking the example of the hairdressing industry. “During the internship, in the salon, the students find themselves sweeping or shampooing, while in high school, they can practice cutting hair on guinea pigs”.
A concern shared by Grégoire Ensel, the president of the FCPE, at the microphone of franceinfo: “We must not sacrifice these essential apprenticeships for the benefit of internship periods in companies”. Because many teachers are asking for better supervision of these in-company training courses for vocational high school students. “Emmanuel Macron has an idyllic vision of internships in companies. But the company can also be dangerous, especially when you parachute young people into a very hierarchical world of adults, for example in the restaurant industry”warns Philippe Dauriac.
In addition, the unions of teachers in the professional sector defend the place of fundamental lessons, which according to them allow students to acquire a valuable basis in the event of reorientation and not to widen the gap with the general path. “Pupils entering vocational high school have social and academic difficulties and they need more and better school”they wrote, meeting in inter-union, in a press release (PDF) March 21th.
The fear of territorial disparities
The Head of State also insisted on the link between vocational high schools and employment pools. He announced the closure of certain sectors if they have no outlets on the labor market, without specifying which ones. “The government wants to match the pro sector to the needs of local businesses: we put the pro high school at the service of the regional economic world”, denounces Philippe Dauriac, of the CGT Educ’action. A speech shared by Guillaume Lefèvre, national secretary of the National Union of high schools and colleges (Snalc) in charge of vocational education. “We forget that vocational high school teachers also and above all train students who must have a broad general and professional culture, and not Kleenex performers who we get rid of five or ten years later because their training no longer corresponds to the latest business wishes”he says in a press release.
The unions fear the appearance of strong geographical disparities, if sectors were to close for lack of positions to be filled locally. Could high school students be denied training in aeronautics or carpentry if they live far from an area offering positions in these sectors? “This should not lead to two-speed vocational high schools, with on the one hand those who are in attractive and dynamic territories and those who are in more struggling territories”worries about the World (article reserved for subscribers) Jérôme Fournier, national secretary of SE-Unsa.
The announcement of the gratification of vocational high school students during their internships did not achieve consensus either. “Public money will provide free labor to companies”tackled Sigrid Gerardin, co-secretary General of the Snuep-FSU at the microphone of BFMTV THURSDAY. The inter-union staff of the sector must meet in the coming weeks.