Letter: Don't discount apprenticeships
Innovative Global Brands Llc, whose products include granite kitchen countertops and floor tiles, is closing its residential business. Credit: iStock
Apprentice programs prove that there is some sanity in an otherwise poorly thought-out education system, which relies on the premise that everyone should go to college ["Apprentice programs get backing," News, Nov. 10].
Not everyone is academically inclined. It has nothing to do with anything but individual proclivity.
I would guesstimate that 25 percent of all students are truly university material, and another 25 percent are capable enough to get through with some academic help.
What about the other 50 percent? They form much of the backbone of our society: the mechanics, the truck drivers, the construction workers, the plumbers and electricians. All of these positions require intelligence and some specialized knowledge, but not what's learned in universities. It's gained by the time-honored tradition of apprenticeship.
All of you so-called educators should take note. The apprentice system is not only cost-effective but also more beneficial to our society than vain and demonstrably failed attempts to force-feed education into a one-size-fits-all package. Apprenticeships should be widely embraced.
Richard M. Frauenglass, Huntington
