« I grew up in the countryside, where I saw many manufacturing workshops close down due to lack of transmission and successors. Yet, these places, especially in rural areas, are essential levers for cultural and even social dynamism. However, in middle school, we were not taught about these trades, these future potentials, and even these manual skills are not valued, assessed, or encouraged by the educational system and thus by society », explains Gabrielle Légeret.
A realization led to the creation of the association De l’or dans les mains : manual practice is not sufficiently highlighted within the educational system, even though not all children thrive in the very theoretical and abstract approach proposed by the school system.
Moreover, by 2030, 2.8 million new jobs will be created for the ecological transition, of which 80 % will be manual.
In this context, De l’or dans les mains will structure its action around 2 axes. The first is field action, in 9 academies of the National Education, across 6 regions, involving about fifty middle schools. The aim is to have artisans come into the classroom during school hours to help children create an object.
For instance, benches for the schoolyard will be built by the children, linked to their math curriculum. In sewing, they will make pouches for their notebooks, applying the calculation of an area and the calculation of an angle. Since its inception, the association has raised awareness among 10,000 young people in France about manual trades.
« But we are very aware that we will never be able to cover all the schools in France », notes Gabrielle Légeret. Hence the second aspect of its action, dedicated to impact measurement, research, and advocacy to bring these issues to the attention of public authorities.
Because many stereotypes about these trades still need to be broken. « For a long time, manual trades did not always pay well. These are tough jobs, but many things are changing, especially with the advent of AI », explains Gabrielle Légeret.
« I am convinced that these trades are gaining value, and in any case, we will have no choice but to revalue them, even monetarily, because we will need them for the ecological and social transition that has already begun. We will have no choice but to be much more self-sufficient for our energy or for the production of our clothing. And we have all the solutions in France to succeed in this transition. But indeed, we need to choose to better value professional integration into these trades », concludes Gabrielle Légeret.
