Unfortunetly this is a well meaning article but totally misses the point that Germany has a unique apprenticeship system - in English speaking countries techies have enough trouble with low social status compared to other professions. Let alone the disastrous effect of that Bloody “apprentice” program the BBC puts out which has done god only knows how much damage to the term Apprentice
I started out on what some might call an apprenticeship technically a professional apprentice – ie the one you did after doing a trade apprenticeship and sittng half way between trade and a university degree – but none of us who where all bar one all working for elite organizations (mostly in the defence and rnd sector) would have said we where NOT! apprentices we where Junior members of the Mechanical engineers thank you very much.
How ever there are some major downsides to the Ultra rigid German school system you get pigenholed into one track or the other at an early age and its I understand very hard to break out an I believe until the EU put its foot down impossible.
The problem with this rigid streaming is you decide very early what kids are going to do in later life and as one German HN commenter said its funny how it is the “brown” skinned Germans who seem to make up most of the vocational schools - and you can see the same in the USA and the UK with Black Kids pigeonholed as vocational track.
For example a mate of mine works for one of the big 4 consultancies and he mentions some BME kids and he said its tragic that the schools aren’t prepping the kids to go into those professions.
No its mainly primarily about damaging the social staus of the technical profesion in Anglo Saxon Contrys - but the fact that school systems like germany that force kids into one track do descriminate against those who dont fit in is very widley known.
You where also asuming the the system Germay has evolved would work in other countrys with aparently no undertsanding of how Industrial relations and socity has evolved.
I started out on what some might call an apprenticeship technically a professional apprentice – ie the one you did after doing a trade apprenticeship and sittng half way between trade and a university degree – but none of us who where all bar one all working for elite organizations (mostly in the defence and rnd sector) would have said we where NOT! apprentices we where Junior members of the Mechanical engineers thank you very much.
How ever there are some major downsides to the Ultra rigid German school system you get pigenholed into one track or the other at an early age and its I understand very hard to break out an I believe until the EU put its foot down impossible.
The problem with this rigid streaming is you decide very early what kids are going to do in later life and as one German HN commenter said its funny how it is the “brown” skinned Germans who seem to make up most of the vocational schools - and you can see the same in the USA and the UK with Black Kids pigeonholed as vocational track.
For example a mate of mine works for one of the big 4 consultancies and he mentions some BME kids and he said its tragic that the schools aren’t prepping the kids to go into those professions.