Breaking news !!

 

After more than a year of fighting to defend Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers (NNESTs), here is where we are now.

 

-         13 refferal files open with the French Defender of Rights (the latest file was open…today !) This means potentionally 13 organisations or schools convicted for discriminatory practises…but let’s be a bit realistic given the legal uncertainty…probably less ! ;

-         Still no decision has been made by the French Defender of Rights, which is « normal » due to the infamous red tape…but many of the 13 cases are already being investigated (which takes months). According to the jurist I spoke to over the phone, some decisions should be made by the end of the year if I am lucky... ;

-         An ever-growing worldwide community on LinkedIn is aware of discriminatory practices and it is starting to voice things out loud ! This is very uplifting !!;

-        After reporting discriminatory practices to France Compétences more than 3 months ago, I finally got a reply today, from Ali Amrouche, who is the Managing Director of Information Services at France Compétences.

France Compétences is the French authority in charge of regulating vocational training and apprenticeship in France. This state institution has refused to take a stance on this matter although I think it does have the power to do so and it should…anyway. Still I was happy to talk over the phone with M. Amrouche because he gave me valuable information on how the French vocational training system works and how every actor interacts with each other. As you may know, it is a real headache to figure all that stuff out ! On top of clarifying all that, he has given me advice on who I should contact now, to try and inform as many actors as possible in order to possibly transform things from the inside…at last !!

Such actors are :

The certifying bodies for Qualiopi, which are approved by the COFRAC (Comité Français d’Accréditation); The DGEFP (Délégation Générale à l’Emploi et à la Formation) which implements and controls over public employment and vocational policies  ; the Caisse des dépôts which manages « Mon Compte formation » and which is in charge, among other things, of controlling over the quality when it comes to training courses delivered by organisations or schools, as well as the contractual frawework involving all the stakeholders of vocational training, ranging from end users (learners) to training organisations.

(such info can be found on the official websites of such bodies)

That being said, I am no expert in that field and please feel free to provide me with additional or corrective information if you deem it good to do so.

I will now contact all of these bodies to see whether or not they feel concerned about the matter…

So now, the question is : will they just pass the buck to each other or will they eventually stick their necks out and MAKE A BIG  NOISE ??!! Time will tell. Please keep on supporting me through thick and thin I and cross my fingers we will defeat racism and stupidity !

 

Special thanks to the following people for their unwavering support :

Rachel Tsateri (who has faced such discrimination and won the legal battle in Germany) ;

Meri Maroutian (who granted me a live talk about this topic on May 17, 2023. Please see past events on https://thenonnativespeaker.com/nsu/

Ali Amrouche from France Compétences (who is the only person from this body, in spite of my many attemps to contact them by all means, who has been willing to talk with me…and help me !!) ;

All the people who support me on LinkedIn.

 

Let’s talk soon and keep high hopes !

 

Vincent RICHARD