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Originally Posted by blankall
I disagree with this.
The major problem in North America is lack of centralized control over the education system. The idea that we the government funding higher education (they pay something like 90% of actual tuition costs) and most programs have near unlimited amounts of spots is absurd.
If you actually look at the education systems of places like Germany and Scandinavian countries, where post-secondary education is totally free, they also strictly control how many students are allowed to enroll in each program. And no, you cannot circumvent this by going private, as the government also controls what universities get accredited as universities.
Germany and Scandinavia also divert children who are not performing well into trades programs during high school. Canada is starting to do this, and it makes sense. Instead of demoralizing a child by forcing them to repeat remedial math multiple times, why not give them actual skills.
Canada, overall, also needs an attitude shift. We need to stop telling kids that university is a part of your growth as a person. This is just marketing. Post-secondary education, of any kind, needs to be viewed as training for a job.
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To me the biggest issue is the attitude. I have friends in Germany, and it is interesting how trades are looked upon as a great career. All the big German manufacturers have programs in place to get these kids into vocational programs when they are 15 already.
Here in Canada we think kids taking a 'year off' before going to post secondary is great. Why? We need to get kids into programs sooner, not later.
Teacher attitudes are the worst to me. I don't think a single teacher I had advocated for trade schools, and many of the kids that did end up going to trade school have great careers.