Vocational Training Anyone???

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I am a bit of an PBS junkie.  The News Hour is the fist thing I turn on when I get to my office, and I watch as I check my email accounts and plan my day.  And I usually have NPR on in the car.  Two recent reports caught my attention:  1.)  The lack of vocational training in our country that is causing shortages in jobs like plumbing 2.) The systematic way in which immigrants to this country are encouraged to start their own businesses.

In our current American education system, college is the avenue that children are encouraged to pursue.   Law school is expensive and we are educating lawyers that the nation cannot use.  When Chatham County opened a vocational/technical school a few years back there was great excitement, and still there is a waiting list to get in.  In less than a decade Woodville Tompkins Technical and Career High School has become a U.S.New and World Report Bronze Medal winner and they are preparing kids to be part of the 21st century workforce.

We need to rethink the path we are preparing our children for and realize that many paths lead to success.  That could include vocational training and/or educating our children to think of ways they too can become an entrepreneur, creating their own jobs, and perhaps going on to employ others as well.

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 14, 2016 at 11:37 AM

    I have been saying this for years. Many of my students will not go to college and many of them are not interested in college but our school system has very little to offer outside of a college prep curricula. There has to be a push back towards this type of educational/vocational track in our schools.

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