L'enseignement agricole, une mosaïque en recomposition

Research on agricultural education, an integral part of the French school system, constitutes a blind spot in social science work in the field of education. To use Pierre Gaspard's expression about technical education, we can also qualify agricultural education as a “ deserted site ” (Gaspard, 1989, p. 193); moreover, it is much more so than education and vocational training, on which a renewal of research can be observed (Tanguy, 2000; Bodé, 2005; Marchand, 2005). In 2019, agricultural education trained nearly 130,000 pupils, more than 35,000 students and as many apprentices. The hegemony of training establishments under associative status providing work-study education, with rural family education and guidance centers numbering 367, is one of the original features of agricultural education. There are also 211 private agricultural high schools and 216 public agricultural high schools. Agricultural education also includes 18 agronomic, veterinary and landscaping higher education establishments, most of them public. Most of these establishments are affiliated with national federations: the Federation for the Promotion of Public Agricultural Education (APREFA), the National Union of Rural Family Education and Guidance Centers (UNMFREO), the National Council for Private Agricultural Education (CNEAP), the National Rural Union for Education and Promotion (UNREP) and the Federation of Agricultural Engineering Colleges (FESIA). These different “families” of agricultural education welcome pupils from the fourth class and apprentices in CAP (certificate of professional aptitude) and train their public up to the engineering diploma and the doctorate; however, they mainly provide level 3 and 4 training on a work-study basis and under school status These different “families” of agricultural education welcome pupils from the fourth class and apprentices in CAP (certificate of professional aptitude) and train their public up to the engineering diploma and the doctorate; however, they mainly provide level 3 and 4 training on a work-study basis and under school status These different “families” of agricultural education welcome pupils from the fourth class and apprentices in CAP (certificate of professional aptitude) and train their public up to the engineering diploma and the doctorate; however, they mainly provide level 3 and 4 training on a work-study basis and under school status1 . They have developed apprenticeship courses that have experienced strong growth in rec