For the pre-entry of teachers, Emmanuel Macron chose a professional high school in Orange, in the Vaucluse, on Friday July 1. The choice is not trivial, since the reform of these professional establishments starts with the new school year, between gratification for the student trainees and rapprochement with the business world.

“When you open the hood and you really look at what is happening and what is your daily life, the situation, it is unacceptable, it is that at the bottom of the house arrest (…) of a lot of injustice and family determinism”, conceded the Head of State in front of the teachers of the Argensol high school, specialized in bodywork and automobile maintenance, and accompanied by the new Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal, and the Minister delegate for vocational education, Carole Grandjean.

The Head of State, very involved in education matters, announced his ambitions: “zero dropouts”, “100% professional integration”. It aims to transform establishments that are often synonymous with academic failure and inequality into a “sector of excellence” thanks to more attractive training and an increase in teacher remuneration. “It would be better to have a direction chosen than suffered. Let’s stop saying that, ‘since you suck, you’ll go to professional high school'”, added Mohamed Laasri, boilermaking teacher, passionately praising the merits of his sector.

“I expect that a revalorization does not go through more work”

It was in the middle of a body shop and automobile mechanics that the Head of State also had to respond to teachers who were skeptical, even critical of the reform. “I’m waiting for a [salary] increase that doesn’t go through extra work, we’re already doing a lot,” said a teacher in environmental health prevention, saying he was “ashamed” of already running out of time to prepare his lessons. The very controversial pact put in place as of this start of the school year partly links salary increases to missions of supervising students and replacing absent colleagues.

“The pay slips are extremely unsatisfactory, despite the efforts that have been made (…) Teachers are poorly paid in France, and this is a source of frustration,” added Madeleine Bernard, teacher of general education.

A kilometer away, at Orange station, a hundred demonstrators had gathered, at the call of the CGT Vaucluse, to reiterate their opposition to the pension reform, on the day of its entry into force, and ask for measures in favor of purchasing power. “I want to show the president that we are keeping the pressure on” on pensions, said François Sandoz, 41, director of the Ressourcerie du Pays d’Arles.

“To come today to a far-right city is a strong symbol. We can clearly see that there is more and more a tacit alliance between the RN, the LRs and the macronists, ”he further believes, citing the recent decision of the Minister of Education to ban abayas.

A third of high school students are educated in vocational establishments

The president was also to address all the heads of vocational high schools during a webinar at the start of the afternoon. A third of French high school students, or approximately 621,000 students, are educated in these establishments. That of Argensol, located in the fifth poorest department of France and in historic land of the far right, had been chosen because it is representative of the sector and that it has already seized certain tools of reform.

This provides in particular for an overhaul of the training map, according to professional opportunities in the employment areas. Also, students from vocational high schools will now receive a bonus, from 50 to 100 euros per week, during their internships in companies and they will be better supported, including in their orientation from the 5th. The Argensol high school wants to develop its educational offer towards the nuclear sector, which is booming, in order to meet the needs of the neighboring Tricastin plant.

In total, the State will devote an additional billion euros, from the start of the school year, to the vocational sector. A business office has also already been set up in all vocational high schools to support students in their search for internships and to liaise with employers.