Nearly 20 years after compulsory military service was phased out in France, President François Hollande announced Monday the creation of a new voluntary service that aims to give marginalised young people a better start in life, reports FRANCE 24.
Three centres for the new Voluntary Military Service (SMV) will open this year, taking in 1,000 recruits aged 18 to 25 who have dropped out of the educational system and have precarious family situations.
By 2016 the scheme will be operational in seven locations across France and open to 2,000 volunteers.
Their term of service will be between six months and a year, and while being in uniform and living under military discipline, volunteers will receive training in civilian sectors such as hospitality and the building trade.
They will also be drilled in life skills – such as politeness and punctuality – in order to boost their employability.
“Youth is our most important cause,” Hollande said, shortly before announcing yet another rise in the number of unemployed in France, now at a record 3.51 million.
Indeed, the number of places for volunteers in the new scheme is tiny in the face of France’s seemingly never-ending unemployment nightmare.