Editing Apprenticeship (section)

===France===
In France, apprenticeships also developed between the ninth and thirteenth centuries, with [[guild]]s structured around apprentices, [[Journeyman|journeymen]] and [[master craftsman|master craftsmen]], continuing in this way until 1791, when the guilds were suppressed.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

The first laws regarding apprenticeships were passed in 1851. From 1919, young people had to take 150 hours of theory and general lessons in their subject a year. This minimum training time rose to 360 hours a year in 1961, then 400 in 1986.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

The first training centres for apprentices (''centres de formation d'apprentis'', CFAs) appeared in 1961, and in 1971 apprenticeships were legally made part of professional training. In 1986 the age limit for beginning an apprenticeship was raised from 20 to 25. From 1987 the range of qualifications achievable through an apprenticeship was widened to include the ''brevet professionnel'' (certificate of vocational aptitude), the ''[[Baccalauréat|bac]] professionnel'' (vocational baccalaureate diploma), the ''brevet de technicien supérieur'' (advanced technician's certificate), engineering diplomas, master's degree and more.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

On January 18, 2005, President [[Jacques Chirac]] announced the introduction of a law on a programme for social cohesion comprising the three pillars of employment, housing and equal opportunities. The French government pledged to further develop apprenticeship as a path to success at school and to employment, based on its success: in 2005, 80% of young French people who had completed an apprenticeship entered employment. In France, the term apprenticeship often denotes manual labor but it also includes other jobs like secretary, manager, engineer, shop assistant... The plan aimed to raise the number of apprentices from 365,000 in 2005 to 500,000 in 2009. To achieve this aim, the government is, for example, granting tax relief for companies when they take on apprentices. (Since 1925 a tax has been levied to pay for apprenticeships.) The minister in charge of the campaign, [[Jean-Louis Borloo]], also hoped to improve the image of apprenticeships with an information campaign, as they are often connected with academic failure at school and an ability to grasp only practical skills and not theory. After the [[2005 civil unrest in France|civil unrest end of 2005]], the government, led by prime minister [[Dominique de Villepin]], announced a new law. Dubbed "law on equality of chances", it created the [[First Employment Contract]] as well as manual apprenticeship from as early as 14 years of age. From this age, students are allowed to quit the compulsory school system in order to quickly learn a vocation. This measure has long been a policy of conservative French political parties, and was met by [[2006 labor protests in France|tough opposition from trade unions and students]].{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}