Small building prodigies. They are under 21 years old, they have chosen the apprenticeship path at the CFA du BTP in Antibes and they excel in their field. Of the 1,103 CFA students, 11 young people took part in the departmental competition for the Best Apprentice in France, organized by the National Society of the Best Workers in France.
Yesterday, they presented their work to the jurors, following two months of preparation. In electricity, tiling, masonry or even painting, the candidates had to produce a work and a technical report.
Like Océane Legrand, just 17 years old, who devoted herself to painting two doors: “They had to be smoothed out, drawn with a ruler and square, painted the MAF logo and the year 2023 and, for the background, brushed lime.”
Precision and excellence
On the plumbing side, the students had to do the complete installation of a bathroom: water heater, shower faucet, water drainage, connection… All by shaping the pipes by hand, with the sand method : “It consists of filling the pipe with sand and reddening it to give it the shape you want without crushing it”explains Cédric Poyer, trainer.
“It’s a technique that is no longer practiced because it is very long. But by working on it, young people develop a sense of precision that they are not used to seeing on construction sites.”
Improve your level
From right to left: Samuel Inghillero, Gary Pecoraro, Louie Baudoin and Theo Zito.Photo E. M..
Precise, like Thibaut Deo, 18, who developed a model “taking up all the electronics of a studio”: blinds, a wire outlet for a radiator, a light dimmer, an intercom, etc.
“According to the jury, I placed the interior plate a centimeter too high”, he smiles. Before adding: “I had a small problem with the internet socket which didn’t work… What is certain is that this adventure taught me autonomy.”
Thibaut Deo.Photo E. M..
“And that my level has improved!” adds his comrade Lassine Coulibaly, who made a decorative tiled piece. Assemble the structure, cut the ceramic and wooden tiles, apply the joints…
“It was like a challenge and I’m sure it will help me find a job later”, he slips. That, the president of the jury Régis Goldberg does not doubt: “The MAF is an excellent springboard for the future. It is a recognition of know-how. We look at the meticulousness, to the nearest millimeter, we are sure of excellence.”
Changing the outlook on learning
Because it takes both in the head and in the hands, to achieve such installations. “This is why we must change the general public’s view of learninginsists Sandrine Hourticot, director of the CFA. No, it’s not just for young people in failure. We have passionate, committed learners who have a future because we need these jobs.”
If the details of the results are still secret, three candidates won the bronze medal, four for the silver medal and five for the gold. A ticket to access the regional competition to go, perhaps, to the national!
Moreover, meet on June 23 at the Parc des expositions in Nice for the national evaluation of the MAFs, with live events open to the public.
