Quote:
Originally Posted by elchivito
I've long believed that our "everybody should go to college" focus is wrong and to the detriment of those who don't want to attend or are not academically equipped to do so. It's my understanding that in countries where students are "tracked" in such a way as to sort and select the academically advanced, it doesn't necessarily mean that a student who has been directed towards a career prep type education can not go to college instead if he so chooses.
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Having been in the system in Scotland in the 70's, then having seen it in Germany in the 90's, it's pretty much a done deal - if you're tracked into non-college, it's really difficult to get untracked. It would take a very strong parent to fight the system.
Some of the differences may be the continuing education opportunities later, stuff like community colleges. People in their 30's and 40's took classes that interested them at low cost. It wasn't just something you did to get better job skills. You weren't "done" at 16 unless you really chose to be done.