Dhuoda and Frédéric-Mistral high schools join the Network Schools program for the energy transition

Les proviseurs des deux établissements lors de la signature. L.S.

Les acteurs de la filière des réseaux électriques, lycéens et professeurs se sont rassemblés au lycée Frédéric-Mistral pour finaliser la signature du programme Écoles des réseaux pour la transition énergétique.

Making young people want to move towards the careers of the future. This is the objective of the Network Schools for Energy Transition program, whose agreement has just been signed with the Dhuoda and Frédéric-Mistral high schools in Nîmes. The main players in the electricity network sector, high school students and teachers, were gathered at the second establishment on Thursday, January 9.

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“Major recruitment problems”

This program, launched at the start of the school year in Nîmes, is based on an observation. “The energy transition is generating a very strong increase in a certain number of activities, which requires more work. In order to be able to hire, we therefore need to find people who are already trained”, explains Gilles Pinel, regional director of Enedis for Languedoc Roussillon. By 2030, the electricity network sector is planning 10,000 recruitments at the national level. In Occitanie, more than 800 employees are recruited each year. Due to this future growth, companies are encountering many difficulties on the ground. This is particularly the case for Allez énergies, which specializes in the construction of electricity networks. “We are seeing major recruitment problems for electricians and network installers, who remain a profession that is little known to the general public”, warns Rémi Vasquez, director of the Languedoc Roussillon agency. There is therefore a need for “investment to be able to capture the skills of young people and integrate them into our workforce”, he continues.

Access to internships and apprenticeships

This program will allow both institutions to move forward in this direction. The two Gard high schools, which offer a vocational baccalaureate in electricity and its connected environments, now offer 30% of courses dedicated to electrical networks. This is positive for Christophe Malaret, professor of electrical engineering, who believes that until now students “were little or not trained in these specific areas”. “They prepare us for the future”, explains enthusiastically Zakaria, a student in the first year. The other part concerns professional support through internships and work-study programs that high school students will be able to access more easily thanks to partner companies.

A little before the signing of the partnership agreement between the high schools and the players in the electrical network sector, the speeches followed one after the other to motivate the future generation of workers. François Martinez, headmaster of Dhuoda high school, was delighted with a “very great success” which “shows that the training courses offered are firmly anchored in economic reality and the business world”. Before giving way to Vincent Engelvin, president of the professional union for the construction and maintenance of dry networks for Occitanie, who told the young people present in the room: “I encourage you to hang on. We will need you.”