A tale of apprenticeship in Germany
Or how he did not go the university computer science degree road:
I decided the best thing to do was to drop out and start an apprenticeship as a Fachinformatiker – computer programmer. This might sound like a stupid decision to people in North America, who often go to College or University to get a degree in something like computer science, but in Germany leaving high-school for an apprenticeship is not out of the ordinary. It is called the dual education system, and it is likely one of the main reasons for Germany’s success.
The system has its roots in history of the region. Carpenters and a number of other important craftsman trades have used an apprenticeship system to teach and build expertise for hundreds, if not thousands of years. The underlying idea is that there are professions that profit more from experience then theoretical understanding and that education time is far better spent doing the actual work by watching or listening.
Many companies in Germany take on apprentices, much like North American companies accept interns and co-op students. If a company decides to take you on as an apprentice, the position is guaranteed by the state. Should the company go bust, you are placed with another company the next day. There is a web of companies guaranteeing the positions for each other, spread all across the country.
Chuckles says it would never work over here – too practical, creating someone too skilful.
Filed under: History & Culture, Society & human issues
Interestingly this lad was diagnosed with learning difficulties, and even medicated, before it was discovered that he liked doing something useful. It reminded me of Britain, where kids are encouraged to speak cretin so that they can get degrees in political correctness. Sadly our modern “apprenticeships” are not worthy of the name, so perhaps bored youths unable to master cretin will be prescribed Ritalin in future to stop them demonstrating in favour of real apprenticeships.
Chuckles is only half right; it stopped in the UK because apprentices do not generate a profit for the company employing/training them plus the ‘mentor’ spends less time generating profit for the company – much cheaper to let them learn elsewhere and then employ them.
JD recently posted…Some poetry for a change
“there are professions that profit more from experience then theoretical understanding and that education time is far better spent doing the actual work by watching or listening.”
Are there any of the other type? Even philosophers need to devote lots of time to practical arguing.
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JD, I think you will find that apprenticeships were reduced in the UK when the government got involved in dictating how they would work. This was exacerbated by the destruction of such things a technical colleges and education closely followed by the government paying people not to work.
Ivan: Yes the various training boards were set up in 1964 by the Conservative Government of the day. Lobbying from industry being the driving force behind the scenes.
The original technical colleges worked well (I went to one for one day per week) but the new system……….merde alors!
I remember it well because it meant employers had to pay a levy to the CITB which paid for useless jobsworths to ‘train’ apprentices for them.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1964/1079/contents/made
JD recently posted…Some poetry for a change
The ‘journeyman’ system still operates for carpenters in pats of Germany, I understand. After their set years of apprenticeship they have to leave and ‘journey’, preferably to another region, country, even continent, to gain experience. That lasts at least a year.
If only we could get back to that.
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In the fifties and sixties the unions buggered up the apprentice system by insisting employers pay the apprentices more than they were worth.