When you listen to him speak, it’s hard to imagine that Yogiha has only been here for a year. Arriving in France from Thailand, the woman who was a nurse in her country of origin is already able to hold a simple conversation in French with Arnaud Bourda, sub-prefect of Villeneuve-sur-Lot, who came to the Sud Management campus at occasion of integration week. At 48, the now Casseneuilloise joined the campus to follow a unique training course in Lot-et-Garonne. By combining learning French and immersion in a company, it makes it possible to professionalize newly arrived foreigners in a legal situation.
The “support towards employment” action, carried out by Sud Management, in partnership with the prefecture, welcomes for the second consecutive year five students who recently arrived in France. For several months, the job search becomes just as important as learning French. “We also learn how to create CVs, how to introduce ourselves to companies…”, explains one of the teachers.
Varied profiles
While the school also has a campus in Agen, training is only implemented in Villeneuve-sur-Lot. “Today, for example, we have people who are lost, in retraining or with life accidents, and who need to define a professional project,” explains Arnaud Bousquet, manager of the Villeneuve-sur-Lot site.
This year, Yogiha, who wishes to work in a health establishment, is accompanied by four other students from Mauritania, Brazil and even Ecuador. Administration, secretarial work, care, accounting, teaching, all professional projects are studied. Apprentices who have been directed to the campus by structures such as France Travail, the Local Mission or the Syllabe association, which assesses the basic skills of foreigners to guide them correctly.
“I never went to school”
Karen came to testify about her progress. Having graduated from the first class of training, the one who is originally from the Philippines is still waiting for French nationality to be able to work as an English teacher. “It’s not just support for a professional project, it’s really support for our personal project,” she explains. Same satisfaction for his classmate: “I never went to school in my country, in Senegal. I could neither read nor write in French. But after arriving here, I saw that I had progressed a lot in a few months. »
“Often, when they have completed the training, we refer them to neighborhood associations to continue learning French. They have my contact details and they know that they can contact me if they need help,” adds Annabel Aleixo, educational manager for the employment support training, who assures that the training “could very well be duplicated elsewhere on the territory”.
