A bouquet of flowers was laid to denounce the "death of apprenticeships" due to lack of funding

A funeral wreath dedicated "to apprenticeship" was symbolically laid on Monday, June 8, near Bordeaux by actors in the sector to denounce the "irresponsible" reduction in state funding for apprenticeship training centers (CFA), which threatens investments and renovations of premises.

"In view of the difficult economic context", the Ministry of Labour has confirmed a decrease in the funds allocated to the regions for the operating and investment expenses of the CFA, set at 33 million euros compared to 134 million initially planned in the 2026 budget. The latter provides for apprenticeship funding of 7,3 billion euros.

Denouncing a "brutal" decision, Karine Desroses, vice-president of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, laid this wreath with a tricolour ribbon in the presence of about fifty actors in the sector in Pessac, in the suburbs of Bordeaux.

"We want a shock and maybe the State will reconsider its decision," said the elected official, a member of the socialist and affiliated group in the regional council.

"The state is irresponsible in killing apprenticeships," she denounces, condemning a "bad signal" for this "path of excellence."

The association Regions of France also said it learned "with astonishment" of this reduction in funding, while the Union of Local Businesses (U2P) denounced a "brutal and unilateral" cut.

For Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the allocation, which should have been reduced from 80 to 40 million euros, will finally be limited to 5 million euros in 2026.

Gérard Gomez, president of the regional chamber of trades, fears closures of CFAs, particularly in rural areas, due to these "investments that will not be able to take place", preventing the "renovation" of some CFAs "to maintain a quality of reception".

Karine Desroses, for her part, mentions finding 30 million euros to pay for the work on the fifty or so projects voted on in Nouvelle-Aquitaine before this budget cut.

The ministry, for its part, assures that this "significant effort (...) does not compromise the objective of 800.000 apprentices".

"It's not quantity that counts, it's quality. If it's to put 150 young people in an amphitheater, that's not learning," replies Ms. Desroses, for whom manual trades could lack successors within ten years, when 50% of craftsmen will retire.

"You will no longer have bakers, no more bricklayers, no more plumbers," she warned.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.