How Jean-Michel Blanquer wants to bring schools and businesses closer

National Education is organizing its “first school-business university” this Thursday, in Poitiers. Mentalities have evolved, say in an interview with "Echoes", the Minister of Education and the boss of Veolia, Antoine Frérot. Jean-Michel Blanquer promises more internships for teachers and students, a one-stop shop for companies in the rectorships and the development of public-private partnerships inspired by IBM and the United States.

How to bring school and business together? The question returns to the fore from one five-year term to another . This Thursday opens in Poitiers " the first school-business university in the service of training and professional integration ". The event organized by the National Education, which was to take place before the health crisis, will welcome business leaders, representatives of unions, employers and National Education. UNSA and FO were present. Not the FSU, which considers that the government "instrumentalizes" the question of the integration of young people "to distribute public money without conditions to companies".

At the end of the five-year term, "while one of the main problems of the moment is the mismatch between skills and the very many jobs offered, rapprochement is essential," said Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer, in a cross-talk for “Les Echos” with the president of the Institut de l'Entreprise and Veolia boss Antoine Frérot. The think tank is preparing to renew its partnership with National Education.

"Lots of orientation errors"

« Les entreprises sont persuadées que plus elles ont de relations avec l'école, plus cela peut permettre aux élèves de se préparer à une partie de leur vie d'adulte : la vie professionnelle », insiste Antoine Frérot. « La plupart des élèves entendent très peu parler des entreprises, de la réalité des métiers, de la fonction publique, des ONG ou des start-up. Cela explique sans doute pourquoi il y a encore trop d'erreurs d'orientation. »

Who can blame this knowledge gap? To teachers? “Yes, and vice versa,” retorts Antoine Frérot. "Mentalities have changed, there is not, on the one hand, a rigid institution and, on the other, greedy companies", insists Jean-Michel Blanquer, sweeping away "a cliché". “The idea that teachers do not like seeing companies at school is increasingly inaccurate,” adds Antoine Frérot.

"More internships for students"

"For guidance, many things have changed," says Jean-Michel Blanquer evoking "the goal of 40 hours a year from the 4 th and 54 hours per year from the second." The challenge, according to the minister, is to "have a much more concrete and embodied knowledge of the business as of the 4 th through the coming of the field, to talk to students about their future."

On a daily basis, however, school leaders regret “the virtual side” of these hours, which compete with hours of optional options . "The spring week of orientation organized in certain establishments allows students to meet professionals", nevertheless welcomes Jean-Michel Blanquer, who is preparing to "disseminate good practices to principals". He also promises "a new stage in 2021-2022 with greater participation of the regions" and "more internships for 3 rd students, vocational high school students and apprentices".

Double internships for teachers

The ministry will also "systematize regular periods in business for teachers in vocational high schools", by doubling the current staff, "from 5,000 to 10,000 per year". They will be of variable duration, from one week to several months. "It is thus guaranteed that a vocational high school teacher performs an internship in a company at least every five years", announces the Minister.

For all teachers, including those in the general path, the National Education will offer "a greater offer of experiences in business, via continuing training modules designed with structures such as the Institute of the company. ", Especially for head teachers, senior education advisers and guidance professionals, he adds.

"Linking courses to economic news"

The other stake, for Antoine Frérot, is the teaching of economics, "which can be abstract if it is not illustrated". The Institut de l'Entreprise thus created the Melchior website to “link courses to current affairs”.

"The challenge is indeed to illustrate", supports Jean-Michel Blanquer who evokes "the greater place given to microeconomics in the 2018 programs, which makes it possible to talk to students more frequently about the economy concrete business ”.

The Institut de l'Entreprise also works in middle and high schools, like last year in Hauts-de-France. “Company ambassadors” talk about their profession and encourage learning. "This has made it possible to greatly increase the number of apprenticeship contracts at the national level", rejoices Antoine Frérot who is preparing to duplicate the operation elsewhere.

"We have to reach 800,000 young people in work-study programs per year in the country in five years, which would put us roughly at the level of countries like Germany," he says. A figure to be compared with the 500,000 apprenticeship or work-study contracts signed in 2020 and which Jean Castex already described as a “historic record” last month.

A Mr. or a Mrs. companies

Each rectorate will also have its "one-stop-shop" for companies which "do not know where to take the National Education house", announces Jean-Michel Blanquer. This measure should also make it possible to “systematize partnerships between vocational schools and companies”. Because the National Education "will assess the importance of partnerships with businesses", the minister speaking of "an accentuated twinning between businesses and vocational schools".

"A hundred P-Tech projects"

Another avenue exists to bring the school closer to the company, with the P-Tech system. Designed by IBM in the United States, these public-private partnerships aim to "coach" students from the second vocational until obtaining their BTS with mentoring and internships, in a vocational high school. Experiments have been carried out in France since 2019 with IBM, Orange and BNP Paribas. "We want to go further by multiplying initiatives throughout the territory thanks to awareness-raising work at the level of each department, which will allow us to initiate around a hundred projects in the coming years", announces Jean-Michel Blanquer .

"This device is the cream of the crop, if it cannot be generalized to all students, it can inspire other initiatives," said Antoine Frérot. "It can be a locomotive", assures Jean-Michel Blanquer who sees in the plan "a young person, a mentor" launched by the government "a cousin device".