Apprenticeship in Comoros

In Comoros, apprenticeship usually takes place in a company, workshop, farm, service business or other production setting. The apprentice learns through practical tasks under a maître d’apprentissage, meaning the workplace person responsible for supervising the learning. The learning relationship is based on an apprenticeship contract between the learner and the maître d’apprentissage, with the ministry responsible for vocational education acting as a guarantor within the legal framework. Apprenticeship may also include literacy and national-language learning, especially where learners enter from the informal economy. The national framework covers initial vocational education for school-age and older learners, continuing vocational education for people who are working or unemployed, and apprenticeship for both young people and adults. It recognizes informal-economy apprenticeship alongside formal provision. A preparatory cycle can begin from age 12, pré-apprentissage generally covers ages 12 to 14, and apprenticeship has a minimum age of 15 under the stated framework. A 1983 statute for certain centre-based trainees set a minimum age of 17 outside the Ministry of Education cycle. Entry requirements therefore depend on the specific programme and legal basis. A competency-certificate pathway can serve applicants below the usual CAP entry level. Formal progression may include the Certificat d’Aptitude Professionnelle (CAP) after primary education, the Brevet d’Études Professionnelles (BEP) after CAP or the lower-secondary cycle, a baccalauréat professionnel after BEP or an equivalent qualification, and a Brevet de Technicien Supérieur (BTS) after a vocational or secondary baccalauréat. School, vocational education and university pathways can connect through assessment of acquired learning. Validation des acquis de l’expérience (VAE) is available regardless of age, education level or employment status when previous experience can be assessed. Workplace activities may provide evidence for VAE, and a maître d’apprentissage may obtain a moniteur certificate through VAE. Training can be provided by State, island or local-authority institutions, private non-profit or profit-making providers, chambers and other consular bodies, companies and artisan-sector workplaces. Providers must hold the required approval or authorization. The 2013 framework allows internal or external alternance, enterprise tutors and distance learning under ministerial rules. Public and private provision is not evenly documented across Ngazidja, Ndzuani and Mwali, so a national assumption about availability, fees or start dates is unreliable. There is no evidenced universal duration for every apprenticeship. Initial programmes must meet the minimum duration set in the relevant diploma framework, while some older centre-based stages follow a duration fixed by a creating decree. Current programme notices should therefore be checked for the exact length, timetable, entry documents and assessment method. Assessment can combine continuous work with an end-of-cycle examination. The State organizes certification, and an official diploma, certificate or title has the same effect regardless of the recognized acquisition pathway. Approved or public centres covered by the 1983 framework could award a Certificat de fin de stage or a Certificat de Formation Professionnelle after the final examination. The framework states a right to vocational education and individual training, equal access for informal apprentices, Quranic-school learners, disadvantaged people and people with disabilities, and equal access and retention for women. It also protects dignity and integrity and provides accident and occupational-disease insurance for covered institution and workplace periods. Learners must attend, complete assigned tasks and follow the rules of the training institution and enterprise. Breaches can lead to disciplinary sanctions. Funding may come from the State budget, employer contributions, bilateral or multilateral partners, local authorities, households and provider income. The 1983 law set a statutory employer contribution of 2% of global payroll. A private provider’s authorization file must state the training cost, but no standardized national learner fee, stipend or grant is evidenced. A 2024 seminar addressed the structuring and operationalization of a training fund, while its current live mechanism remains unverified. Current investment gives particular attention to agriculture, construction, industrial technologies, digital work and the environment. Identified institutions and facilities include IUT, Faculté des Sciences et Technologie, PATSY, Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de Ouani, Lycée agricole de Mvouni and Lycée polytechnique de Mbibodjou. Other documented skills needs include building and public works, energy, maintenance, couture and artisan production, transformation and agriculture. Tourism and hospitality are not priority sectors in the cited AFD sector analysis, and the operational status of an announced tourism school in Mitsamiouli is not verified. Comparable PROFI coverage for Mwali is also not evidenced. The PROFI programme is scheduled from 19 March 2022 to 19 March 2027, with EUR 21.5 million for infrastructure, equipment and redesign of training provision. The Komor Initiative for 2020–2024 addressed guidance, training and employment, traditional-apprenticeship certification, pre-apprenticeship feasibility and mobile, modular or worksite training. These measures respond to a labour market in which about four in ten people aged 15 and over are integrated into the labour market and 54.8% of jobs are vulnerable. Current enrolment, provider lists, fees, programme durations, completion rates and employment outcomes are not sufficiently evidenced nationally, so the relevant ministry, island commission or authorized provider should confirm local details.