The major players in learning are climbing to the highest peak in the state to make their case. On Tuesday August 2, five heavyweights in the sector wrote to Emmanuel Macron to express their ” incomprehension “ and their “amazement” in the face of the reductions in budgetary resources announced at the beginning of the summer and applicable at the start of the new school year. The authors of the letter are not asking the Head of State to renounce these “savings”recognizing that they are ” required “. But they suggest doing them differently to mitigate the « choc » inflicted on apprentice training centers (CFA).
The approach follows a deliberation, adopted on June 30, by France competences, “national authority” regulation and financing of apprenticeship whose board of directors is multi-party (State, social partners, regions, qualified personalities). This body recommended a reduction “total average of around 10%” of the “support levels” – the grant used to finance support for the holder of an apprenticeship contract. The pruning shears will be given in two stages, with a first decrease of about 5% on the 1is September, followed by another – from 1is April 2023 –, the amount of which could be equivalent. Between 750 and 800 million euros should be saved in this way.
This recommendation is intended to rationalize a system that has suffered, in certain respects, from its own success. In 2021, just over 730,000 apprenticeship contracts were signed, compared to 290,000 five years earlier. A spectacular progression, initiated by the law of September 2018 “for the freedom to choose one’s professional future”, which liberalized the system. The boom has been amplified by the exceptional bonuses granted since 2020 to employers who hire apprentices.
In this context, France competences was called upon in proportions far exceeding its resources. With, as a consequence, the appearance of a deficit that has become structural: – 4.6 billion euros in 2020, – 3.2 billion in 2021… This year, the imbalance could be even greater (– 6 billion, according to the Court of Auditors). The State has been called to the rescue several times to prevent the operator from being insolvent.
“Disparities in treatment”
The rise of learning has been accompanied by price increases – not always fully justified – and windfall effects. Several evaluations conducted over the past two years have found that the allocations exceeded, on average, the cost of training by 20%. From the end of 2021, all the protagonists have engaged in dialogue with the aim of aligning the level of aid with that of the charges borne by the CFAs. The discussions led to a result in line with the expectations of France competences, with regard to 70% of the levels of support. For the others, the operator was more directive, often recommending a turn of the screw.
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