Mentoring in vocational high schools
Since 2019, a partnership has existed between companies and the French Ministry of Education and Youth to address the shortage of talent in digital professions and work towards equal opportunities. Thanks to this partnership between the French Ministry of Education and companies, students from vocational high schools (bac pro CIEL) through to BTS (BTS SIO) benefit from various types of career, project or immersion mentoring by employees and colleagues from your companies!The aim is to prepare young people with the academic, technical and professional skills required for 21st century jobs, and specifically for the digital professions of tomorrow.P-TECH’s strength lies in the unique opportunity it offers companies to build their mentoring action in close collaboration with the teaching teams at vocational high schools, and to define together the professional contributions to be made by the students over a 5-year period. In France, the program is present in 11 classes, in several regions, and can be deployed anywhere!
P-TECH is an educational approach built on collaboration between schools, higher education and employers. It aims to help young people connect academic learning with practical skills and a clearer view of careers in technology and related fields.
Partnerships of this kind can offer mentoring, workplace exposure and project-based learning. Their long-term value depends on sustained commitments from participating organisations and on accessibility for students who may not have professional contacts in the industry.
Early exposure to digital professions can change how young people imagine their future. Useful orientation avoids portraying all technology jobs as programming roles and instead explains the range of tasks involved in design, infrastructure, security, data, project coordination and customer support. Encounters with professionals help learners assess the realities behind job titles. Employers and educators can complement such initiatives by giving young people opportunities to ask questions, try small projects and discover training options at different levels.
