“Colos” cancelled, leisure reception shut down: After two years of Covid during which very few young people were trained but also because of structural reasons, the animation industry is now without arms. To find solutions, a sector committee will be established in September.
The organization of summer stays is complicated because of tension between animators, directors and kitchen teams. Anne Carayon (director of Jeunesse au Plein Air) says that organizers are at the end of their rope and are unsure if they can maintain the stays.
The Education League (Vacances pour tous) says that “just over 200 children are affected by cancellations due to the absence of supervisors”, of the 17,000 who were welcomed. Benoit Fontaine (director of the League’s holiday program) says that this number could rise because “we don’t necessarily have enough to absorb withdrawals” from supervisors.
Camp organizers resort to shortcuts to cope: Vincent Clivio from the National Federation of Rural Families says, “We are working to request exemption from state services for experienced but unqualified facilitators.” . Laurent Bruni (general manager of Ufcv), warns that there is “absolute urgency” for leisure centers. Vincent Clivio says, “We have preventive closings, limits on the reception capacity.”
These difficulties can be explained in part by the Covid pandemic and the confinements that followed it. Laurent Bruni explains that 17,000 youth have been prevented from taking Bafa training (the required certificate to facilitate summer camps, Editor’s Note) over the past two years.
The causes of the problem are more complex. The summer camps are for young people who have been recruited under an educational contract. They receive a low daily allowance (23.87 euro gross minimum per day), in consideration of their expected availability 24 hours per day.
According to the interviewees, it is necessary to revalue the allowance to make the Bafa aid more understandable, and to also explain the purpose and value of this commitment. Anne Carayon affirms that she has asked for volunteers for animation just as we have for firefighters. This is to make it clearer for young people.
Professionals are employed by leisure centers and extracurricular reception throughout all year. According to the Department of Youth, Popular Education and Community Life, 10% of the required staff is in short supply. The shortage is characterized by a high level of precarity, low remuneration, almost always part-time contracts and a lack recognition.
The government was aware of these problems and organized “Assises de l’animation” from November 2021 until January 2022. The government created a plan with 25 steps and a “sector commission” to implement this plan.
Former deputy Yves Blein assumed the chairmanship of the committee. Benoit Coquille (ex-advisor to the State Secretariat Youth and Commitment) has been named secretary general. “The goal is to have more porosity among all the professions in childhood so that these people can benefit from real work time and that qualifications are standardized,” Yves Blein explains.
He is happy that the “learning colons” system has brought the sector back into the spotlight with “significant assistance”. It must not be a “one-shot” (…). This is not the main topic when we ask many questions about social diversity and “living together”. He says that we know how important the colos can be in this.
