As part of the recovery plan for Wallonia, the Walloon government intends to improve the quality of qualifying education and vocational training in order to bring the training of young people more in line with the job market and to limit the rate of unemployment. To do this, the Region is displaying its objective of strengthening in-company training and more particularly, work-study education. A program that greatly worries three trade unions.
“Our concerns have always been strong about the future of qualifying education. It acts as a relegation channel within our unequal school system and is commonly criticized without taking into account its difficult context. Unfortunately, these concerns come to grow after the disclosure of a joint memorandum adopted by the governments of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Walloon Region, the Brussels-Capital Region and Cocof which sets out the intentions of our political decision-makers in terms of training and qualifying education, in particular for work-study”, write the CGSP-Enseignement, the Setca-Sel and Appel (Professional Association of Free Education Staff).
At the top of their concerns, the end of compulsory schooling until the age of 18. “In theory, compulsory schooling is in force until the age of 18, but from the age of 15, the young person can go to work-study education. However, it is essential that young people maintain contact with the school world, which is not the case in the IFAPME”, develops Joseph Thonon, president of the CGSP-Teaching. At the origin of this fear, the projects of rapprochement between the CEFAs and the vocational training sector. “We perceive the links between IFAPME, SFPME and CEFA as an amplification of unfair competition to the disadvantage of education”specify the organizations.
Currently, CEFA students spend two days a week at school and the next three in the workplace. In the IFAPMEs, they spend one day at school and 4 in the company. Another difference separates the two types of education. “In the IFAPMEs, the trainers are not teachers. They have no title to teach. In this world, it is the bosses who are in charge. However, it is essential that the students have a general education that includes mathematics, science, history, etc. until they are 18”believes Joseph Thonon.