I went to a tech school, and I'm glad I did. Since this probably isn't a concept that translates easily, let me explain. When I did secondary education, there were two options for students: high school, and technical school. High school tended to be more academic, with opportunities to study business and language subjects. Tech school was much more hands on, we did woodwork, fitting and turning, sheetmetal work, electronics, textiles, home eco (cooking, mmm! :-) and plastics.
I think the tech school offered lots of practical skills that I continue to use today. (Unfortunately, I never went far in the auto classes, so I still don't know how to fix my car, ...) I don't regret not studying business (despite the fact that I'm doing it now...! :-), but I have always loved languages, and probably would've appreciated the opportunity to study one.
This system got changed just as I was finishing, with all the tech schools closing down and some of the practical classes being picked up by the high schools. This was about the same time things like "surfing" and "sleeping in" got added to the curriculum, so I can't say that the students of today don't continue to have a diverse range of opportunities, but I'm sure glad I got to do what I did.
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