The Cercle Passeport Télécoms is an association governed by the general Act of 1901, composed of some telecommunication companies: Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson France, Gemalto, Nokia Siemens Networks France, Nokia France, SFR and Orange. Crédit Mutuel and Formule 1 – Accor are also associated partners involved in the execution of the programs.
It was established as a result of an agreement in April of 2006 between these companies and the state (Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Research and Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing).
The Cercle Passeport Télécoms (Telecom Passport Circle Association) offers a business style mentoring to those students who come from a modest background, in particular from depressed areas and from minorities, and to encourage them to enter the Grandes Écoles specializing in engineering and business curricula, with the goal of leading them to high-level careers in companies or government agencies.
The goal is to create, both in neighborhoods and companies, examples of success, academically then professionally, of young people coming from disadvantaged groups, relying on their desire for a career in the Telecom industry.
The novelty of the program lies in having companies and the government working closely as partners. Assessment of the mentoring program is done by a committee composed of representatives from companies and the government.
A network of teachers and professors refer candidates to their corresponding mentors on the business side, in each partner company and guarantee that the process is implemented efficiently.
.sflb)
This social promotion program is meant for students who would have taken vocational education, in areas where those careers are already overrepresented.
Students or graduates of vocational schools or those holding an Advanced Technician's Certificate, are identified by teachers in Classes préparatoires technologiques (classes taken after the baccalaureat, most often provided in a high school environment, intented to prepare students for the competitive entrance exams to the Grandes Écoles).
The Cercle « targets » in particular National Education scholars coming from underprivileged neighborhoods and/or minorities.
Three channels are looked at by the Cercle:
- 23 classes préparatoires ATS ("Advanced technician adaptation"): One-year training to prepare Advanced Technician's Certificate students for entering engineering schools.
- 15 ECT classes (Economy and Commerce with Technology orientation), two-year preparation following a STG Technological Baccalaureate (STG: Science and Technology of Management), allowing the students to take the entry exam to business schools.
- 8 TSI classes (Technology and Industrial Sciences), two-year preparation following a STI Technological Baccalaureate (STI: Industrial Science and Techniques), allowing the students to take the entry exam to engineering schools;
The mentoring offered by the Cercle starts in these 46 classes préparatoires and continues in the major engineering and business schools (39 Grandes Écoles partners) until the students land a first job.
This is not a pre-recruiting process. The ones who are mentored have no obligation to join the Telecom companies nor have these students the assurance to get a job in one of the partner companies.
The mentoring offered by the Cercle is a result of shared thoughts between the teachers, the students, and the political players of the community. The goal is to provide a specific support to those players inside the companies, without stepping in the National Education action, and without entrenching the role of the families.
Read More