State trade schools

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   janesixposted 9 years ago

   We (the US) should have state trade schools with job training for those kids who aren't interested in college. Kind of like job corps.
   
   I think they do this in G. Britain, but I'm not sure.

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      wildernessposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The state college where I live (Boise State U) has a whole raft of trade schools in it.  I attended one of them for a 4 year program and my wife also took one.

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         janesixposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         That's cool. We don't have anything like that in our area. We do have one of the biggest Job Corps though. I went to it, and really liked most of it. Unfortunately, like everything else I dropped out. It had people from all over the world attending.

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      rhamsonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Trade training is well and good. I went to trade school right out of high school. The problem is that most school systems are geared to push kids into college. That means a liberal arts curicullum is probably the syllabus by which the courses are based. An aptitude evaluation should be made before showing a kid this direction. An apprenticeship program would help immeasurably and a decent wage would push it along a lot better.

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         wildernessposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Decent wages are already there, for a skilled tradesman.  Although the top end is much higher, few college grads can match what a tradesman is making after 4 years.  My son, with a BA in business and 6 years of experience, still hasn't caught up with my salary after only four years of trade school and I worked during the period (OJT) which paid for the school.  Same for my daughter in law with an accounting degree - after 3 years of working she's just a little over half what I earned.
         
         And have you paid for a mechanic lately?

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            rhamsonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I would agree that may be the case for some trades such as the mechanical and plumbing trades but much of the trades industry has suffered through this recession due to low job volume. It is a persistent problem through many recessions and lower overall wages as your savings , if you have any, are decimated trying to survive.
            
            Are you comparing your earnings out of trade training to your sons college qualified job. Pretty broad I would say. In what era did you enter the trades and when did your son enter the workforce? What type of job did you get and what type of job did your son get? How do the two compare with skill and qualifications? You make some really particular claims from personal experience.
            
            I don't hire a mechanic often as I usually do the work myself. I recently swapped out a rusted frame from a pick up I now drive. But I have had the car in the shop to have some computer diagnostics done. With what I paid the shop I don't think the actual mechanic made much.

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               wildernessposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               I entered in the 90's, my son entered in the 2000's.  I was a journey level electrician, he works for Uncle Sam. Four years of schooling for each.  The big pro for him was I was nearly topped out, while he's just starting and could go much further, but then I didn't have thousands in loans, either.  Of course, a major pro for me was that tradesmen can often become entrepreneurs in their own right.
               
               Yeah, diagnostics probably go to the shop, paying for the fancy equipment.  But actual work - rebuilding an engine, maybe - mostly goes to the mechanic.  I've paid $700 for a new water pump that couldn't cost over $100 for instance.  And the bill to replace a frozen shift linkage cable was going to be the same - I did it myself in 2 hours and $150 material cost.  Like you, though, I mostly do my own work as I can't afford to pay a mechanic.  When the shop gets $100 an hour for the work you know the mechanic isn't at $15 or $20.
               
               Overall, I really think trades can be a viable choice as a career.  The money is fair to good, depending on the trade, and without the huge college bills kids are amassing today.  Although I don't feel that those bills are usually necessary.

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      Credence2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I hear that the Germans have done an exceptional job in this area. Trades in emerging areas in this new century would include programming and repairing robots that are going to replace workers on the assembly line. The negative connotation of trade school when compared with conventional university education is simply not relevant anymore.
      When we see where we have to go, this can be an opportunity where the Government and the Private Sector can work together and cooperate to develop curriculum, incentives toward the training of a well paid work force that is ahead of the curve rather than behind it

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      gmwilliamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Not only uninterested in college and university but unqualified to attend college and university. There are FAR TOO MANY student attending college and university that SHOULDN'T have been in such institutions in the first place.  College and university AREN'T for everyone and it's about time for parents and some clueless educators to realize that.  Children are constantly being pushed to pursue tertiary education whether or not they possess the qualifications to do so.  If your child isn't smart but mediocre, college and/or university is simply NOT for him/her.  College and university is too intellectually rigorous for those children.  A training school or apprenticeship is more suited for their intellectual capacities.

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         janesixposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I agree.

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   Tom Davisonposted 9 years ago

   I was just speaking about this yesterday with my colleagues (how strange). My view is that school isn't for everyone and doesn't set a lot of people up for the rest of their lives like it does others. Here in the UK they have introduced such things as apprentices for office staff? Is that some kind of joke, an apprentice to be a receptionist!!! The government don't have a clue that our current way of schooling doesn't work in this day and age, the internet has changed everything in our lives and that includes schooling. I really think they should introduce "job corp" type schooling in my country as the teachers don't even seem to know what they are talking about most of the time. I wish school had taught me something but I had to work my arse off after to school to learn everything that i know today, school wasn't for me as i was an outspoken person and mucked around a lot in class as the lessons just weren't interesting enough for me and i knew 99% of the stuff already. Anyways, i shan't natter on, thats my views on this.

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   gmwilliamsposted 9 years ago

   There are vocational schools at the secondary level but there should be more apprenticeships, training, and technical schools beyond the secondary level. There are many kids in colleges and universities who simply are unqualified to attend college(C students).  As a result of the influx of such kids in colleges and universities, courses have to be dumbed down to meet their mediocre intelligence level.  Those students are the reason why a college degree has lost its status and is now equivalent to a high school education.
   
   If more stringent quota were imposed and enforced, only students in the extreme upper percentile (A & B students) of their high schools should be admitted to colleges and universities and the courses wouldn't have to be dumbed down and the college degree would gain value.  Also with less students attending colleges and universities, they would be able to get a commensurate job after college because the ratio of college graduates would be small to jobs out there requiring college degrees as opposed to fewer jobs per college graduate as a result of the influx of mediocre, unqualified students who elect to attend college.  C students in high school shouldn't be allowed to attend college/university but one of the training and apprenticeship programs which they are more suited for.  Colleges and universities should be for A and B students only.

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