A real option - Apprenticeships

AN unprecedented proportion of students now attend third- level institutions and this is, by and large, a very good thing. 

Ready access to third-level courses — even if some of those opportunities are criticised for being too market-driven at the expense of the humanities — must be a good thing. Maybe it is time that sweeping statement was qualified by suggesting we should make efforts to be more supportive of the traditional way of learning some industrial skills — an apprenticeship.

Germany has built, and sustains, its pre-eminence on industry. This achievement is based on layer upon layer of education, some of it academic, some of it hands-on learning from a master craftsman. This has served Germany well and there is no reason to say it would not do the same here. Indeed, it might even instil a vocational passion in some young people; the kind of passion that underpins all successful enterprises. In a few weeks’ time, something like 50,000 young people will sit final second-level exams. Is it just possible that too many of them have not considered an alternative to third-level education?