From this Monday June 17, 2024, second year high school students throughout France must complete a internship, in order to allow them to discover the world of work. The objective of this new measure is also to “improve the youth guidance policy” and of “make the link between school and businesses more dynamic” according to the Ministry of National Education. For many students in Yonne, however, it was difficult to find a company that agreed to take them for two weeks. On June 6, the National Union of National Education Management Personnel (SNPDEN) represented throughout France between 30 and 50% of high school students without a company to welcome them.
“I asked a colleague”
In several high schools in our area, finding an internship was very difficult whether for high school students, but also for parents like Lyndsay Dussault, mother of Naomi, a high school student in Joigny. She had to struggle to find an internship for her daughter who was unable to find one in the field she wanted: “She wants to continue as a lawyer. I took the liberty of calling all the lawyers in Auxerre. There were two who told me no. They came up with the same thing each time, that is to say she is too young, there is professional secrecy and we don’t have time to train them.“.
After more than thirty calls, the high school student had to fall back on her mother’s knowledge at the town hall of Brienon-sur-Armançon: “I asked a colleague to take it to the leisure center so she was willing to take it. Subsequently, I found another colleague who is a director at the nursery school so she is going to do her internship there, but it is not at all in the branch she wants.“.
This is also the case for Noam Djernoune. This second grader wanted to do his internship in a sports sales store, but none called him back : “I had a lot of trouble finding my internship, which is why I had to do it with my father. It was the fallback solution“. Noam is doing his internship at Skenet’eau, Monéteau’s concert hall, and he finally likes being able to discover the world of entertainment.
“Some found an internship that only lasted one week. It was quite complicated”
Another scenario, Manon Compain who had to find two different courses to fill the two weeks requested: “I’m going to discover two different professions so that’s good. I’m doing an internship at the Ancy-le-Franc retirement home, because I would like to become a nurse or physiotherapist, so it will be the time to meet medical staff such as doctors. The second week, I do another internship at the Bi1 store in the same city“.
Manon had no trouble finding her internships becauseshe did it in advancebut also becauseshe had help : “My mother worked at the retirement home I’m going to, so it was easier because she knew people. My brother works at the Bi1 store so I took advantage of it too. I think if I hadn’t had help it would have been more complicated. I know that in my class, there are some who only found it for a week so it was quite complicated“.
“Many teenagers have career ideas, but which sometimes cannot be observed at their age”
The goal of the second course is to help high school students with their orientation, to familiarize them with future professionsbut the implementation of the measure does not always keep these promises according to Olivier Thébaud, professor of history and geography at the Fourier high school in Auxerre and representative of the National Union of Secondary Education (SNES): “To think that it is enough to put young people in a company so that they can follow the profession that interests them is to not understand what a teenager is!”
The teacher gives some examples: “Today, many have career ideas, but ideas that sometimes cannot be observed at their age. I’ll take a simple example: a student who wants to work in medicine. No doctor, for very good reasons obvious ethical issues, will not take a trainee into his office when he is doing patient examinations. People wanting to move into aesthetics find themselves in the same situation. Young people cannot observe the practice of hair removal. pass, for obvious reasons of respect for the body of the customers. There are many things that are not feasible. The only places where it is simple is to welcome students in the back of the class, for example. primary school. Many internships take place there.“.
