The National Report of France

Part I: Background and context for workplace learning partnerships in France

Section 1: Basic observed characteristics of SMEs?

Nowadays all the enterprises and especially the SMEs? and family owned groups are increasingly involved in various regional and cross-border networks of learning partnership and interactivity between themselves, their training providers and other socio-economic and institutional actors. These companies and particularly those active in the machine-tool automotive sector within Alsace region are observed to possess the following basic characteristics: • The existence of simple organisational structures open to change, to learning and knowledge sharing partnerships. Work organisation is dominantly a “company-based project development”, involving team-working across all the departments concerned by the project. The implementation of the project on the level of the departments implies the existence of a certain hierarchical authority. The employees are required to be flexible and relatively autonomous with rigour and responsibility within the limits of their functional flexibility/mobility and work assignments. For this purpose, there is an increasing preference for the recruitment of employees who possess, in addition to a minimum of job-specific skill requirements, other core and transversal competencies. • The dominance of employer-directed (on and off the job) continuing vocational training (CVT) with the aim of promoting their employees’ productivity, adaptability to new technologies and access, in certain cases, to promotional mobility. Apprenticeship and alternating vocational training are practised in partnership with the apprenticeship and training provision centres. This leads frequently to the confirmation of the apprentices and the beneficiaries of qualification contracts into their jobs, especially within small-sized family companies. Moreover, this partnership is increasingly involved a variety of regional networks of multiplier and professional bodies such as the chambers of commerce, the GEIQ (Grouping of Employers for Inclusion and Qualification) and the regional inter-company vocational training networks (such the tri-national “Euregio” tri-national vocational training scheme network between France, Germany and Switzerland in the Upper-Rhine Valley region) . • A dominant preference for recruitment on the basis of permanent work contract. Short term employment is not frequently used. Once used, it is usually considered as a preliminary test period for employees to benefit from a long duration work contract. The recruited individuals have to be, in most cases, directly operational. But a complementary training is usually necessary, at least to introduce and adapt the new employees to the culture of the enterprise (especially for individuals recruited on the basis of unlimited duration work contract). • Relatively high attachment of employees to the company’s products and its family-based professional identity. In addition to different forms of training (employer directed on-the-job/off-the-job training, self directed learning and alternating qualification training) some companies use other types of individualised incentives to improve the employees’ attitudes and performances at work. This includes for instance, employees’ access to premiums based on their effective contributions to fulfilment of fixed achievement objectives in relation to time schedules, productivity, clients’ requirements, and conformity with quality standards.

Section 2: Basic characteristics of developing WLP networks

As for the various regional and cross-border networks of learning partnerships in which these companies are increasingly involved, they can be grouped into two basic categories:  The traditional WLP networking between the enterprises (especially SMEs?) and the educational and training providers;  The emerging regional and inter-regional cross-border WLPs? and co-operation networks.

1. WLP network between the enterprises and their training providers

Vocational education and training system is changing in France. The socio-economic and institutional partners are increasingly negotiating agreements through partnership networks that will deeply transform work related CVT while having considerable influence on initial vocational training. Moreover, setting the systems of competence audit and accreditation of experiential learning has remarkably changed the relation between learning and training providers (including R & D institutions) and the enterprises in general and the SMEs? in particular.

Although the field of initial vocational education and training (IVET) is under the responsibility of the public authorities, it is actually situated in a global framework of agreement between the social partners of 1971. The consequence of this was the restructuring of CVT within the companies, the reinforcement of vocational training by apprenticeship and the implementation of a funding system for CVT in the enterprise, and the promotion of cooperative training through the alternating vocational training between the “school” and the enterprise. Several agreements enclosed in the 1971 Act concerning the creation of continuing vocational education and training system, led to an effective modification of the whole VET system in France. This includes measures such as the obligation for negotiation and partnership concerning vocational training (1984), the creation of joint commissions for collecting the funds for CVT financing , the implementation of contracts for the professional reintegration through the alternating vocational training (1983 and 1991). The latter will be continued within the framework of the new type of “professionalisation contract” which extends it to include long-term unemployed individuals more than 45 years old.

Moreover, learning partnerships and knowledge sharing between the enterprises (especially the SMEs?) and the education and training providers (including R & D institutions) has been reinforced by means of the introduction and implementation of two complementary regimes for competence audit and accreditation, i.e. the competence audit (“bilan de competences: BC”) and the accreditation of experiential learning (“validation des acquis de l’expérience: VAE”) regimes. While the “BC” is simply an audit of the individuals’ personal and professional competences with the aim of career/learning project re-orientation and development, the VAE gives access to formal accreditation (trough certification) of prior experimental learning (and consequently access to further formal learning). Both regimes (“BC” and “VAE”) are increasingly reinforcing learning partnerships and knowledge sharing within and between learning providers and the enterprises through their contribution to making non-formal learning visible and contributing to the development and the creation of learning-path fluidity and complementarily between the formal and non-formal learning (Dif, 2001 and 2002).

This traditionally dominant and well established work learning partnerships within the French regions between companies and their training suppliers will be exemplified in section two by the case of ATELCO Company.

2. The emerging regional and cross-border WLPs? and co-operation networks

These networks are mainly the result of the joint measures undertaken (especially within the framework of the implementation of INTERREG programmes) on both national and European levels in favour regionalisation and the development of inter-regional cross-border co-operation and partnerships since the beginning of the 1980s. They can be grouped into three basic developments in French contexts:  Developing learning regional community networking;  Developing inter-company “GEIQ” networking;  Developing cross-border inter-regional co-operation networking.

2.1. Developing regional learning community networking:

Regional learning community networking constitutes a coherent and comprehensive form of learning partnerships to face the ever-changing challenges of the knowledge-based economy of the new millennium. It has the following basic characteristics (Dif, 2004; Heraud & Dif, 2004): 1. It is an all-inclusive community network open to proactive partners, where: – Learning is placed at the heart of the community development by considering it as a cumulative investment within a social process that provides a comparative advantage for the overall socio-economic development; – Both formal and non-formal learning resources are inter-linked and equally appreciated and recognised; – Economic and educational partners interact, co-operate and share their learning and knowledge resources within the community’s space with openness and interactivity within larger spaces (through for instance cross-border WLP networks such as the tri-national “euregio” related training programmes between France, Germany and Switzerland within the space of the Upper-Rhine Valley region) ; – Innovations are supported by interactive learning among learning organisations and individuals within the regional community network and other regional community networks within the “ERA”. 2. It is increasingly based on the use of “ICT-based learning technologies” as means to reduce digital and social divide by: – Allowing for all the possibilities of acquiring a full range of literacy and learning, – Establishing intra and inter community networks to share common concerns and best practices as an integral part in the process of the preparation for the emerging knowledge-based society.

In France, the basic institutional background to this process was launched by the decentralisation law (in March 1982 and July 1983), completed by the five-year government-regional planning agreement of December 1993. This law and its complementary agreement transferred direct competences and responsibilities to the regional communities in the field of continuing vocational training, initial vocational training (including apprenticeship, and all forms of alternating vocational training contracts). The regional councils together with the social partners have the power of coordinating and structuring the offer of initial and continuing vocational training for young people of 16-25 years and of continuing vocational training measures for adults (Walther, 2003). This transfer of competences and responsibilities has been completed by a full handover of the appropriate financial means through the related 2003 Law of the 29th of March.

2.2. Developing inter-company “GEIQ” networking

For more than ten years, the “Grouping of Employers for Inclusion and the Qualification (GEIQ)” has proposed professional inclusion programmes to individuals who have limited access to employment (basically among young people without or with limited qualifications, including long duration unemployed individuals). They are primarily recruited on fixed duration contracts (through partnership conventions between the GEIQ and the enterprises) which can be transformed into permanent work contract. Through this, the GEIQ discharges the company from the administrative formalities. It also takes in charge the socio-professional accompaniment which cannot be secured individually by most of the SMEs? (GEIQ, 2004).

There are today in France about 103 groupings of GEIQ network distributed in 21 regions (including Alsace). 3300 companies, primarily SMEs?, are involved in this network. In 2003 for instance, more than 2200 vocational inclusion trajectories were taken in charge by the GEIQ network, of which 70% were successful thanks to the double accompaniment - social and professional one– taken in charge by the network (GEIQ, 2004).

In the Alsace region, The Union of the Lower-Rhine Industries has also created its own GEIQ (Grouping of Employers for Inclusion and Qualification) network. It is the second largest partnership association of GEIQ type in the French industry (after that of Doubs’ region). This association takes in charge the recruitment and the salaries of young and old individuals who could not have access to employment. Then it places them (for instance, as turners, milling machine operators, welders, machinists,…) in terms of qualification contracts within the enterprises of the industrial sector, including the SMEs? which do not have individually the means to recruit, train and accompany this kind of socio-professionally disadvantaged category of labour force. During the first year of its creation, the “GEIQ Industry Alsace” obtained the financial support from the General Council of the Lower-Rhine Department (Alsace), the Urban Community of Strasbourg and the Regional Department for Labour Force, as well as the logistical support of the ANPE (the national Agency for employment).

In 2003 for instance, the GEIQ-Industry-Alsace recruited 90 individuals and placed them within 32 companies for training in a variety of occupational domains (according to requests of concerned individuals) as ironmonger, turner, milling machine operator, welder, metal-bender, assembler, driver, etc. Hitherto, the GEIQ-Industry-Alsace has privileged the alternating vocational qualification contracts as means of allowing the recipient companies to train the candidates for employment within their specific domains. Thus, the vocation of this Grouping of Employers is largely to support and facilitate recruitment, training and the integration of individuals with difficult access to employment within the local industries.

2.3. Developing cross-border inter-regional co-operation networking

The development of this networking integrates within the framework of the INTERREG community initiative which was launched in the 1990s by the European Commission with the aim of promoting cross-border inter-regional cooperation and partnerships.

Over the last 15 years or so, the INTERREG programmes has financially supported through its three basic phases (I: 1990-93, II:1994-1999; III: 2000-2006) many cross-border WLP projects within the Upper Rhine Valley region between France, Germany and Switzerland such as: • Franco-German in-company traineeship within the framework of INTERREG I -PAMINA programme in French and German languages. It is a training scheme involving four French schools and five German schools for around 325 students in total. • Cross-border project for professional training (INTERREG III A - PAMINA Park in French and German). It involves the French association for adult vocational training (AFPA), GRETA Nord-Alsace (Alsace region) and the CJD Maximilian-sau (Palatinate) in pooling resources to implement joint training programmes. • Tri-national Engineer Training (INTERREG II -Upper Rhine Centre-South). It is a 4-year tri-national engineering training programme for 30 students each year. It has been implemented at the “Université de Haut Alsace” (Alsace region), the IBB Mutenz, and the Berufsakademie Lörrach. The course takes place in three locations and in companies in each of the three countries (France, Germany and Switzerland). The resulting diplomas are recognised all over Europe. • Tri-national in-company training programme with Euregio certification (integrating within the framework of INTERREG II & III -Upper Rhine Centre-South). The training programme is to foster and promote reciprocal placements in companies in neighbouring countries of young people coming from different apprenticeship and training institutions. The Euregio certificate is to certify that participants had successfully completed their tri-national training programmes.

This form of inter-regional cross-border co-operation in terms of learning partnership promotion between France, Germany and Switzerland will be exemplified (in part II) by the case of the “tri-national training programme” launched in 1989 by the family owned group (“Endress+hauser”) with companies located in the three concerned countries.