Will we learn from the Swiss? Probably not.  But I like that we are at least taking baby steps toward their apprenticeship systems. Who knows, maybe a youngster in your family will benefit.

The U.S. just signed a big agreement with Switzerland.  We are going to try to learn how the Swiss educate themselves via apprenticeships.

Imagine this: About two-thirds of Swiss high schoolers sign on for apprenticeships. With companies large and small. With hospitals. With government departments. They choose from 300 recognized apprenticeships. They learn how to do things by doing things. On the job. Supervised. Often with course work and testing during the apprenticeship.

We would ignore a lot of these kids. We would let them drift from high school to thrash about in Flounderville. To find a job. Doing something. Many of the others we would push into colleges. To flunk out. Or switch degree programs. Or to, sort of, pursue meaningless degrees over six years. To then meander into Flounderville. To find what it is they are meant to do for work. To discover by trial and error, ta ta, their destiny.

Yes, we have serious students who work toward goals. Students who want to achieve something academically. They want to teach. Or practice law. Or  manage. Or engineer. Or work in high tech. But let us face reality. We have millions who go to college because it is what we expect them to do. They don’t really belong there. For any number of reasons.

The Swiss are a practical lot. They view society as a series of levels or niches. Each niche requires a certain amount of higher ed. Or middle ed. Or lesser ed. Each niche also requires a certain amount of learning how to do. Actually do. Hands-on do. 

Basically, they evaluate the youngster. Let’s see. You love to read. Your tests show you handle complex theories and higher math and scientific stuff. You belong in engineering school, studying thus and such. Off you go.

You have these qualities and this aptitude? You belong in an apprenticeship. It will give you two years of tech school and four years on the job.  Or maybe an apprenticeship of two years on the job. Or one that lasts four years.

The Swiss system links specific jobs to education. If you want to work in this job you need to have this specific education. 

Does this work? Well, the Swiss run a pretty sophisticated society and economy. Efficiently. Their on-time trains and watches are tiny gears of one of the best-run countries on earth. If you talk to Swiss (and many Europeans) about their work you will learn they trained, supervised, for just that type of work. 

The Swiss (and many Europeans) are surprised how little training Americans have for their jobs. They are thunderstruck by remarks like: “How did I become a manager of a huge hotel? Well, I couldn’t find a job with my four-year philosophy degree with psychiatry minor. So I bummed around Vail for a few years, got a bartending job. Then I worked in the kitchen. Did some waitering. There was a job open at the front desk. Took a few night-school courses in management. Sort of worked my way up from there.” 

The difference to the rest of us? In a Swiss hotel the waiters know wines backward and forward. They describe the food offerings to you in detail. Their manners and language are likely to be impeccable. They are professional. Trained professionals. 

Here your intimate restaurant conversation, at its most crucial moment, will be crushed.  “Hi there.  My name is Sal. If you need anything, just holler at me. I had some of that Cabernett wine last night. It’s really good stuff, I gotta say. You oughta try that Crap Soozetty. Or the Creamy Brewlay. Knock yer socks off.”

That American waiter is working his way toward managing the hotel. Or maybe he is angling to be a plumber. Since he discovered the hotel’s plumber charges $75 an hour and drives a Mercedes. The plumber is thinking of maybe buying a restaurant. What the hell.

The Swiss waiter is working his way toward becoming a more professional waiter. He cannot dream of becoming either a plumber or hotel manager. Because he would need to go through a six-year apprenticeship. On top of the four-year apprenticeship he went through to become a waiter. The Swiss plumber won’t think of buying a restaurant. Because he does not have the proper training. He has no qualifications, no certificate.

It is not by accident that so many innovations and inventions sprout in America. In so many areas if you can do it, you get to do it. Many of the guys who created the high-tech world got their start in Flounderville. They discovered their destiny there.

However, it is not by accident that we also have an army of people who never get trained to do much of anything. They needed structure that Flounderville does not offer.

The Swiss and Europeans have more structure to guide their youngsters into work. Those structures, however, smother a lot of imaginations. A lot of their plumbers and waiters would do well to run restaurants and mess about with computer stuff. Or manage hotels.

I hope our collaboration with the Swiss leads to more apprenticeships. For the sake of millions of young people who need and deserve structure. At the same time I hope we never lose Flounderville. It produces a stream of young people who help this country innovate and advance.  Even if they don’t know a cabernett from a pooly-foos, or ball check valve.

From Tom…as in Morgan

PS: Last minute Christmas gift? Look for my novel THE LAST COLUMNIST on Amazon.