Have you ever wandered into a shop or business in France to be greeted by a spotty adolescent youth in a dark suit, two sizes too small, who whispers a bonjour without looking you in the eyes, picks his/her nose whilst looking at his/her dirty shoes/trainers and mumbles "What do you want?"
If the answer to my question is a "bien sure" then you have probably just met a stagiaire.
What's a stagiaire.? I hear you ask
Well a stagiaire.is a very important element of the French education system that very loosely follows the apprentice system in the UK or the
Internship in the US. Just about every French adolescent between the age of 14 to as ancient as 24 or 25 will at some point in their lives have had to
perform a "stage".
Now this isn't a summer or Saturday job, but an essential part of the school/college curriculum, where in most cases the youth in question has to
troll round the local shops to find a shopkeeper or business who will employ them for as little as two days to as much as six months in any one school
year, dependent on the academic course they have taken.
It doesn't stop with shops and offices but extends to farmers, light and heavy industry and governmental facilities.
Elaine and I are often asked about the French education system and we have nothing but praise for it.
Our three children are having a wonderful education, directed at academia but always looking to a future life and employment. Before we came to France
they were all in Private Schools and it cost a king's ransom, here it is all free....you even get a government allowance to cover the cost of books,
stationery and believe it or not clothes!!
Sebastian, now 22 years of adulthood is part way through his degree course at Toulouse University and has taken a gap year
in Australia, but was very impressed with the campus and teaching staff, although there wasn't the social camaraderie you get at British
universities, in other words no bar, no disco's and no "party, party, party". He also was not impressed with the strikes, as he said at the
time; "a couple of days off is great, but three months is pushing it!!"
Alex now 20 years of womanhood has passed her baccalaureate and sales and marketing exams and is now doing the equivalent of a degree course in
business studies sponsored by our local newsagent who she works for in her spare time. This is also a stage, but she gets paid!!
Throughout her school & college career she has been on numerous "stages" ranging from a newsagent, working for us at Saint Antonin Noble Val Owners Club,
and various estate agents. Some stages were more successful than others, with one set of estate agents sending her out, rain or shine, to post
flyers through the letterboxes of houses and businesses, neither she nor the college were impressed and they insisted she find something else
The queen stagiaire in our family is Libby (18) who about to take her baccalaureate, has businesses and shops all falling over themselves to
employ her. She is currently working another month on stage for an equipment hire company, think diggers, jack-hammers and earth moving equipment.
She did stages last year for a perfumery company in Paris, the local newspaper and out trusty newsagent, and they all want her back.
You couldn't get a bigger recommendation or a better grounding in the working environment than that.
Decathlon, the sports hypermarket chain,
where she works on Saturdays and Wednesday afternoons, has offered to sponsor her through the next two years of her academic career as a stagiaire.
(I promise you she doesn't pick her nose)
Academically they have all done very well, they understand the issues of earning a living, learning the three "Rs" and
working and playing hard and they all have passed their driving tests, with assistance from their various colleges. Yes you are allowed
days off from school/college for the various theoretical and practical driving exams.....its an important element to ones future life!!
The best years of their lives.... yes I think so !!
If
you are looking for a property to rent,or someone to manage an existing
one, in or around Saint
Antonin Noble Val in the Tarn et
Garonne (82) region , why not talk to us...Call or email Richard or
Elaine Woollam......We can help you.
