All the candidates out there during this election cycle have been dangling this one big prize in front of the voting public: Free college for anyone who wants it, and some have even promised that recent graduates would have their college tuition loans forgiven; in other words, paid off by the “government.” Ha! Where would all that money come from, you think? Probably out of the pockets of the working taxpayers with or without a college degree, now in the workforce, who by the way, would not have their college tuitions refunded retroactively by these marvelous candidates. However, the real question is, “Does everyone need a college degree?” My answer would have to be a great big, “NO!” The fact is some people need one and some don’t.
Allow me to turn the clock back to the year 1955. My parents and I were still living in Algrange, Moselle, France. I was in the sixth (6th) grade at Ecole Mixte (1), now referred to as Ecole de la Mairie (2). That year, all children in my class were sent to a large auditorium in Algrange and given a one-half day test to see who among all of us, would be going to Gymnasium, which was the equivalent to High School, here in the United States. The top three boys and top three girls were going to go to a district Gymnasium, about 15 km, from where we lived. I came in second. That wasn’t too bad for a foreigner, in France, as my father would find out on the day of our departure from Algrange, as the principal explained to him that (and this was on the QT) only a French National was allowed to come in, in first place. So, this was 1955. Perhaps now, things are different. Be that as it may, I had come in 2nd. That meant, had we stayed there, I would have gone to Gymnasium, with a possibility to attend a university. So, as we had decided to emigrate to the United States, I had given up my second-place spot, allowing one of my school buddies, who had come in fourth, to take my place.
What was the point of my little story above, you might ask? The rest of the class, boys and girls, were than selected, based on their aptitudes, to attend various local and regional Trade Schools. They would be trained as apprentices in the many trades, that were needed to fill jobs as machinists, electricians, seamstresses, cooks, bakers, and so on. Even back then, these were reasonably well-paying professions.
Now, we jump across the pond—as the Brits like to call the Atlantic. Here at Berkeley High School, I completed my American education and was looking forward to college. Back in 1960, if you graduated with a certain GPA, you would be accepted by UC Berkeley, without having to go through any testing. Otherwise, you went to JC, that would be Junior College. There were, and may still be, several in the Bay Area. I signed up for Oakland Junior College, down on Grove Street in Oakland. The main reason I did was that although I had vanquished my language difficulty, I had no idea what I wanted to study.
I liked Art and my father wanted me to be a diplomat, since by this time, I knew four languages rather well. When he passed away in 1958, I thought, just maybe, I could go into Art. My mother had other ideas. She told me that I should at least want to study to be a doctor or an engineer. I took all the prerequisites for a medical career, until one day our instructor informed us that we would be viewing an autopsy, the following week, and where that would be. As I had seen my father die just a couple years prior, the thought of watching a human being getting carved up put an end to my medical career. One thing led to another and I found myself in the workaday world, first in a machine shop, then as coil-winder in an electrical shop. The jobs paid well enough and I no longer had a desire to go back to school since I was making money.
Now, we get to the point I am trying to make by telling you my story. Over the years, I met a lot of kids who were just like me; undecided. Some didn’t know if they wanted to on to school, due to the cost. Some liked to work on cars. Some liked messing around with electrical stuff, like working on radios and remote-control airplanes. Many felt that they had no need to go on to college or university. Why should they have to? Back then, unions of various sorts took in young people, mostly young men to teach them a trade, such as electrician, machinist, auto-mechanic, pilot, or pipefitter. However, the openings were limited. So, a lot of high school graduates, and even some who had attended Junior College, ended up in the workforce, not necessarily doing something they would enjoy, just doing a job that would pay.
One of the strangely sad, while at the same time funny stories around 1970 was the one about the guy that worked at the corner gas station in Berkeley, pumping gas, with a Ph.D. The funny part was, “I had a Ph.D. fill my tank, today”. The sad part was, this guy had spent from eight to ten years, earning this degree, just to be pumping gas at a corner gas station. Could this still be happening today? Very possibly. A better question would be, “Should this be happening today?” The answer should be “no!”
We should be taking better care of our human resources so that their lives are more meaningful and not wasted in pursuit of unnecessary goals that will not improve their chances of getting better jobs.
As of today, college graduates in general, make more money than those who have only graduated from high school. One of the reasons for this is, vocational training centers are not as plentiful here in the United States as they are in Europe, where vocationally trained professionals, make almost as much as college graduates and sometimes, even more. So, what should happen in the United Sates?
To improve the prospects of those who have graduated from high school and do not necessarily want to attend college or university, there should be an opportunity for mid-skilled vocational training, outside of universities for those in need of post-secondary education and training, but less than a bachelor’s degree.
The following comes from WENR – (World Education News and Reviews) – The Trump administration recognizes the urgency of advancing vocational education in the United States. In June 2017, President Trump signed an executive order on Expanding Apprenticeships in America that seeks to increase the availability of such programs. In today’s rapidly changing economy, it is more important than ever to prepare workers to fill both existing and newly created jobs and to prepare workers for the jobs of the future. It certainly makes a lot of sense to me. What do you think?
For the past twenty or more years, vocational training opportunities have declined. Unless you know of someone in a specific union and can get into their apprenticeship program, you are out of luck. Specific unions can only take on so many new trainees. Hence, the need for a NEW Vocational College System, offering a variety of specialized programs, where students can sign up and receive a “Certificate of Specialization,” or an even higher level of accomplishment by earning a ‘Technology Certificate,” where students get in-depth, hands-on training in technologies and specialties, without having to spend enormous amounts of time learning about geography, history, sociology or philosophy. How about a certificate in Viticulture, or Oenology (enology)? Where Oenology is the science and study of wine and winemaking, viticulture deals with the growing of grapes. Should one really have to attend a four-year college or a university to learn about the process of making wine?
As you all well know, automobiles don’t fix themselves, neither do television sets, washing machines, dishwashers or cable systems, and cakes, cookies and specialty bakery items don’t appear magically on store shelves. Books and magazines don’t get printed magically. With some of the certificates available, students can get jobs they are qualified and trained for. Or, they could simply go out and start their own enterprises, such as a garage, a bakery, or whatever business or specialty they had been studying for.
How about training to work in publishing, where things have changed quite a bit? For instance, I worked in publishing for a short while, back some fifty years ago, where I did all the layout and color separation of artwork by hand. Today, it’s all done with computers. It’s a brand-new world in publishing as it is in a multitude of endeavors. Computers have taken over in many fields. Getting into these and other new fields, would be more attainable with a certificate of completion from an accredited Vocational Specialty Institute.
In contrast to the USA, Germany has a highly successful specialized work based, system of vocational training that has gained world-wide recognition. Again, according to WENR: 47.2 percent—nearly half—of the German population held a formal vocational qualification in 2016. Fully 1.3 million students in Germany enrolled in VET programs in 2017, compared with only 190,000 individuals (that would be 0.055% of the US population) who registered for apprenticeship programs in the U.S. in the same year.
That’s a shame! Can you imagine all those wasted lives, wasted talent, with nowhere to turn?
Can you imagine what a similar approach to a vocational education program in the United States could do to improve the employability of specifically, young people as well as those, more mature workers, who have been forced to look for new and different employment following the closure of certain industries? Currently, most apprenticeship programs are only available through specific unions, and it is understandable that these unions can only take care of the training of a limited number of candidates. Hence, there is an obvious reason for the establishment of a system of ‘Specialized Vocational Training Institutes or Colleges’.
The benefits of accredited, professional, vocational training would mean, a brighter future for young and old, a better chance at employment and a higher earning potential. So, the establishment of a system of Accredited Vocational Institutes (Colleges) should be a priority going forward. It would be a win-win goal providing opportunities for further education and career goals to young people, as well as to formerly employed older citizens who may want to try their hand at baking cakes, fixing cars, or the vinification of wine making!
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