The french administration pays for a ppl's formation for their ATCOs. When I went throught it, it was 45 hours (which was the minimum to obtain the equivalent of the ppl back in those days before the european private pilot licence, that was in 1998 !). Now with the Ppl, I don't know exactly how many hours you need but I guess they still pay for your full training.
Going through this formation is mandatory for Atcos but passing the test is not a must do . And after that, each year you receive some financial aid to fly the minimum of 12 hours to maintain your licence. And we keep our fingers crossed for it to continue that way...