More attractiveness, and more proximity to the company, its rules and its needs. This Tuesday, September 13, the President of the Republic went to Vendée, to the Eric Tabarly high school in Sables-d’Olonne, to present the main lines of his reform of vocational education. Emmanuel Macron expressed an observation: the school would have moved too far from the functioning and needs of companies. Without making any announcements, the time was still for “exchange”, with students, teachers and representatives, he judged.
However, the Head of State mentioned a few leads. Increase the gratification of internships and the time spent in the company, take advantage of the absence of certain students during professional periods to reduce their number per class, and recruit more workers from the world of work. Axes which, he promises, will be the subject of experimentation and consultation. For Franck Morel, lawyer and former adviser to the Ministry of Labor from 2007 to 2012, and to Edouard Philippe at Matignon, from 2017 to 2020, now Senior Fellow at the Institut Montaigne, the reform must also make the system more transparent, by systematically publishing the integration rates for each training course, and by carrying out extensive forecasts on the professions that will be recruiting in the future.
For you who have participated in reforming the world of work, what do you think of the main directions announced by Emmanuel Macron, concerning the reform of the vocational high school?
We must welcome this desire to reform the sector. It was the missing link, following the apprenticeship reform; the authorities were well aware of this. To train, students sometimes have two solutions: go to CFA, or enroll in technical College. If we reform only one of the two paths, this raises a question of coherence and attractiveness.
Unlike apprentices, high school students do not have a work contract, no remuneration and no professional status. It was therefore necessary to rebalance this attractiveness, without weakening learning. This is why the remuneration for internships, provided for between 200 and 500 euros in the reform, is below that of an apprentice, for example. This is one of Emmanuel Macron’s objectives.
Emmanuel Macron also promised to adapt the training offer of establishments, according to the needs of nearby businesses. Does such a proposal seem interesting to you?
Yes, that seems like a good thing to me, it helps to strengthen the link between training and employment. The added value of this type of training is the link with the reality of the company’s professions and its needs. The goal is to prepare young people for working life. To ensure that he does not find himself unemployed or in precariousness but that they find a corresponding job.
For this to work, the whole system must also be made transparent. We need to be able to know in advance what the training gives, what we are committing to. What happened to the students? These outlets differ according to the region, according to the high school, and the training. It is therefore necessary to publish on the internet each integration survey. And make them comparable, standardize them. If there are other issues, let’s put them on the table as well. Let’s not be afraid to do it.
It is also necessary to provide for an exercise in forecast management of jobs and skills, on a national scale. We must look at the needs in terms of business, today and over what years and how they are distributed on the territory. You have an evolution of professions, of the organization of society. You have professions that no longer exist, others that will only exist tomorrow. Everyone has to adapt. Then you have to look at how the training apparatus is organized. And depending open and close formations. Nothing would be worse than training people for jobs that don’t exist.
The unions, who do not want the reform, fear that the emphasis on meeting the expectations of companies will harm the learning of basic skills, such as French or maths. How do you respond to that?
I don’t see why we would forget basic knowledge. They are part of the program. We would be very stupid to forget them. But, conversely, having fundamental knowledge without the corresponding jobs is not good either. We must not oppose them. What is certain is that if we don’t link the lessons with the needs of the company, we will have more unemployment.
There is sometimes a certain distrust of the business world. It’s a bit ideological, these are old reflexes. But young people do not gain anything in this story. It just makes it harder to insert. When you start working life, you have to put the odds on your side. This does not mean accepting everything and not respecting labor law. We can both understand the issues of the company, while being critical.
Emmanuel Macron promises consultation and experimentation, while affirming that we “know what works” and “what works less well”. If the diagnosis is shared, why be so cautious?
There are reservations on the part of the actors, and in particular the unions. In particular on the respective place of teaching, and the evolution of high schools in general. It is legitimate to listen to these reservations and to respond to them. We cannot pretend that it does not exist, even if we consider that it is unfounded. Benevolence in politics takes on its full meaning. We must try to respond to well-argued criticism, while condemning claims of intent. The challenge of preparing for the reform: combining guarantees, responsiveness and flexibility; be part of a long multi-year framework and at the same time provide flexibility. Seems doable to me.