The Gignac agricultural high school continues to plough its furrow in the “training plain”

Here are apprentices “Mason in roadworks and various networks” with their trainer Ludovic Coget. DR – DR

Le CAP maçonnerie fait partie des murs depuis 2006. JM – JM

C’est la rentrée, aussi, au lycée agricole de Gignac où l’enseignement et le panel de formations continuent de s’étoffer.

It will soon celebrate its 60th spring but seems to have to cultivate eternal youth. It must be said that, day after day, the Gignac agricultural high school strives to explore new educational horizons and to respond to the needs of both the job market and those of the territory. In short, to stay up to date. The latest example: training courses for swimming pool installation and maintenance technicians and the Professional Certificate in Swimming Pool Trades complete the attractive range of courses available in “the largest private agricultural high school in France”, says Damien Plouy, director of a structure that has a total of 570 students, 85 apprentices and 104 employees and provides courses from 4th grade to BTS. Not to mention the training courses provided in “our CFA which is at the heart of the high school and benefits from all its advantages”.

A big expectation from professionals

So, in terms of teaching “swimming pool professions”, “we had learned, from players in the sector, that there was nothing between Toulouse, Marseille and Pierrelattes in the Drôme”, reports Véronique Neil, president of the structure. As nature abhors a vacuum, the establishment's managers therefore took the plunge in 2023, with the aim of opening a sector in 2024. “We have been able to show ourselves to be agile and there is a great expectation from professionals in a region where the equipment rate is staggering”, analyzes Damien Plouy.

A “win-win” pragmatism

“With the rise of this high school, the “training plain” is established. This high school completes the entire range of education and training available (in Gignac, towards the South-West),” appreciates Jean-François Soto, president of the CCVH and the Pays Cœur d’Hérault, while the agricultural education structure welcomes students from around fifty municipalities from the Cœur d’Hérault, but not only. “It is a place of exchange, life, openness but also real pragmatism”, through, in particular, win-win partnerships.

The new offer therefore enhances the training courses that have gradually and naturally been grafted onto the traditional teachings of an establishment with an agricultural vocation: from agricultural equipment, to horticultural production, to landscaping, including personal services, without forgetting the public works and construction sector, again linked to soil work but also linked to heavyweights in the sector who are partners of the high school: Le Marcory, Eiffage, Eurovia, Razel Bec, Colas, Engelvin and Brault. Thus, the CFA Vallée de l'Hérault offers apprenticeships in CAP masonry, CAP machine operator or even a professional baccalaureate in public works. Enough to build a secure career in a sector under pressure.”100% of young people who leave (the establishment) can, tomorrow, get a job. Because we develop sectors that meet needs”, concludes Véronique Neil.

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