This is 2019.
We entered the 21st century and a lot of dreams started going dead.
A mass of young human beings entered that century as adolescents transforming into adults, while believing they have arrived to be the natural maintainers of the steady progress in technological and socioeconomic innovations witnessed during the last half of the century preceding that – to maintain what has been achieved so far and innovate new ones.
Most importantly of all, they saw themselves as icons of the new Information Age. An age so ready and ripe, dangling for them just to grab!
Alas, they are wrong!
The Information Age that they believe was theirs for the taking wasn’t for all of them. In fact, it wasn’t for most of them, as they soon realized. They discovered they have been underequipped right from childhood to tackle the demands of this future they have so much looked forward to becoming its drivers!
How are they underequipped? And what exactly are the demands they are encountering that makes them poor inheritors of progress? Or to say it in a better way, what makes them poor innovators and poor drivers of progress?
To be fair, they did their best. And there are really brilliant people among them. But the contributions they are making nineteen years on is disappointing considering their number and the opportunities and tools at their disposal.
Who are we talking about? They are youths below 40 and above 15, the educated and uneducated of them all numbering about 1 billion[1] in the world.
Even though they are one of the most educated generation in history, many of them appear to be less qualified for the life outside school.
Ironically enough, that education of theirs appear to be their misfortune. They have been educated with a system that has outlived its usage. A system which drum how and what to think into their heads enmasse without considering the true need of the owner of each head. So they all think alike, tended to solve problems the same way, and luminaries are rare among them.
Unfortunately for them, they were born in a time when computer power doubles every 18 months.[2] So by the time they grew up, there is a mass of computers ready to do their bidding; but all they do is to take pictures with them and petition developers for more emojis[3].
Yuck!
The brain of the youths of the 21st century are like mass-produced machines with interchangeable parts – they are so much alike in every respect. But fortunately, this is not their fault. It was due to how they were educated.
The inadequacy of the current method of children and youth education only came under broader scrutiny in the 21st century. But happily, it was not too late!
They have been educated through a system that cares little for individual intellectual bent and strength, but which rather wastefully focus more on teaching every one of them the same thing the same way – in a classroom.
The result was that a mass of adults now enter the productive phase of their lives with no clue whatsoever about what place they should take in the world.
Indeed, they should have a place to take, their existence alone should guarantee them a place. But their problem is not the inexistence of a place for them in the world, but rather, it is the problem of whether they are qualified and adequately equipped to take that place and bring about innovations and progress just like their forebears have done.
Why?
It’s because they lack practical knowledge. And they have been taught to compete rather than collaborate. All they do is read books in class and do homework at home and cram florid theories!
Almost all of them wants to go to college and return with a badge of their “scholarship”. Almost none wants to dirty their hands!
What are we trying to preach with this article? It is to call the attention of the world to our present rotten system of education that seems to be producing zombies, and to use this opportunity to present the apprenticeship system as one alternative out of many for revolutionizing our education system for the better!
This is not our first time, in a previous unrelated article on this site, we have mentioned that going to college is not for everybody, and the usefulness of any knowledge that can be obtained in a college can equally be obtained out of it.
Basic schooling should be for everybody. But college schooling need not be for all.
In a world faced with humongous unemployment rates in many countries; regular economic depressions between the west and the east, and depressing levels of underemployment despite our numbers and potentials, we need to assess how the present educational system that should self-perpetuate its own heirs is now churning out individuals incapable of providing solutions to the problems of the globe.
Out first and last stop in this article will be simply to discuss the many merits of apprenticeship as the better alternative system of learning in comparison to the more common formalized exclusive classroom learning system.
It seems people have been turning a blind eye to the fact that:
1. Apprenticeship appears to be the future:
A major part of the world’s infrastructure and asset is now in electronic form. There is no sign of this reducing anytime soon. In fact, it is pointing to the direction of the future.
Software development, artificial intelligence, robotics and 3D printing are some areas of expertise that is gaining strength every day.
Interestingly enough, the winners in this industry are often not university graduates, but rather practical-minded individuals who only can think creatively and build.
What is most likely is that the future will be driven by more individuals like this.
If learning these areas of expertise can be restructured into an apprenticeship system open to more people, there will almost certainly be an explosion in innovations very soon!
More apprenticeship in these areas will certainly equip more of us for the future.
2. Apprenticeship is practical and pragmatic:
Many a trade/skill are better learned through programs that apply more apprenticeship than classroom learning. Unfortunately, skills like these have been given a fake and unneeded standing as university courses, and they have acquired a misplaced aura as fields for academic scholars only, especially in developing countries.
Prominent among skills like these is the skill of an electrical technician. This is a largely practical field which unfortunately have been confined majorly to the classroom in some developing countries (like Nigeria).
In his book, Water Must Flow Uphill, Professor Rogers Makanjuola (A Nigerian Professor) was complaining about the undue emphasis being given to “head knowledge” in universities rather than “practical knowledge” [4]. In fact, he related an experience he had with a professor who was revealed to be completely clueless about basic practical aspects of his field when called upon to help solve a technical problem in his university’s water facility[5]. This has been a widespread problem in academic circles whereas students’ (including their professors’) knowledge have been limited to theoretical ideas studied in class. This is not so with apprenticeship.
Mainly because of cultural reasons in some of these countries, students are seeking to learn some skills in a university that would have been more usefully learned as an apprentice under a competent master(s), rather than in a university!
And they are clearly paying for this mistake.
Many of the graduates from such systems are usually empty of any useful skills in their field of endeavors, and in the end, public and private infrastructures that are related to these fields are created, and (especially) maintained by those who have gained practical skills of these fields through local apprenticeship rather than those with university degrees.
Apprenticeship is majorly practical oriented in the way it is conducted worldwide and is the most suited for jobs involving a lot of practical skills.
Pharmacy, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nutrition and Consumer Science are some of the university courses that can do better with an injection of more apprenticeship in the way they are taught.
3. Apprenticeship gives a low cost of acquiring skills:
Apprenticeship is a very cheap way of acquiring skills. In fact, in Pakistan for example, entire cost of training is borne by industry where apprenticeship is sought, including wages to apprentices.[6] And since April 2017 in the UK, the authorities have created an Apprenticeship Levy to fund apprenticeships.[7]
Strangely enough, this low cost of acquiring skills by apprenticeship is probably a factor in its being embrace by people from low income backgrounds. And conversely, probably why it is held in disdain by people from high income backgrounds – perhaps it doesn’t match their “rich man” status.
4. Apprenticeship can guarantee an opportunity to earn while you learn:
An apprenticeship is a way to gain the skills, knowledge and experience one need to get into many careers. They combine work, training, and study, letting you ‘earn while you learn’.[8]
Many apprenticeships models pay the apprentice some kind of stipend by default. Although the amount differs by country or region.
5. Apprenticeship brings about networking:
Because of how apprenticeships are structured around real life labor (undertaken for real life people), apprenticeship is a fast way of connecting and networking with the labor market.
In contrast, exclusive classroom schooling severely limits the opportunity for students to interact with real life problems as may be posed by the labor market they aspire to.
In fact, in many situations, apprentices are only limited or barred from being full-fledged members of the labor/skill community only by the terms of their contract. This means they can participate in connections, networking and negotiations with actual players in the skill/labor community to a very far extent – what is missing may simply be the normal practice of not been allowed to refer to themselves as “masters” of the trade or skill until they finish the term of their contract, but in all other activities, they are treated as active participant in the labor market, unlike their exclusively classroom-educated peers.
It is not uncommon for an apprentice to finish the terms of his/her apprenticeship while already having a long list of clienteles to his/her name who are more than happy to let him/her continue to serve them as an independent master in his/her trade.
6. Apprenticeship assures of an opportunity for mentorship:
Apprenticeship itself is practical-oriented mentorship. It is one of the highest forms of mentorship in existence.
While the master and the apprentice may ostensibly be together only for the transference and the receivership of skills, the master also imparts important lessons in ethics, behavior, and human and project management to the apprentice. The purview of this may even exceed the apprentice’s field.
7. Apprenticeship can be a source of emergency skilled labor:
Times of natural or human-related disasters are trying times for any society. Infrastructure may be destroyed or damaged during such disasters.
It will be a bigger disaster if potential sources of skilled labor that can repair, rebuild and maintain damaged infrastructure have been classroom-trained all their lives with little or no practical life skills!
Most society have young people constituting the largest section of their population. But sadly, one of the biggest disaster of our times is that a great amount of resources is being spent teaching this large section of our societies weak theories and idealistic nonsense that will never be useful to them if it comes to raw basic human survival.
All societies should reconsider their priorities and start teaching their youths more life skills like engineering in all its forms, carpentry, practical agricultural skills, logistical, cartographic and surveying skills, shoe-making, cloth-making and basic nursing skills, including midwifery.
A society that have a greater number of personnel skilled in the skills outlined above will fare better in managing natural or man-made disasters that may become their portion.
8. Apprenticeship imparts relevant real world experiences:
This is a truth so obvious that even detractors of apprenticeship cannot deny it.
In contrast to the formalized school system, apprenticeship impart relevant real world experiences to youths just starting to find their way in life. And how it does this is quite obvious.
Apprenticeship is like getting fully involved in a potential source of livelihood without all the usual risks. It affords the apprentice the opportunity of learning, observing and trying out how his/her skills are applicable in real life. Apprenticeship also constantly and regularly gives apprentices an honest assessment of their skills within the time-frame of their training through feedback from their masters and clients.
This prepares them for an independent life as an artisan or highly skilled worker later on.
9. Apprenticeship can improve or complement University education:
If all universities or higher schools of learning can mandate a period of compulsory apprenticeship into some of their courses, a more thoroughly educated and trained set of university graduates will result.
Although, internship, which is a similar but less rigorous program than apprenticeship is common to many of their (university) courses, it doesn’t fully fulfill the demands that will be required for some special courses if it is introduced to it. An example is electronics and electrical studies and other such highly practical-oriented courses.
10. Apprenticeship is full of friendly support and guidance:
In many instances, friends and family of an apprentice not only enjoy their familial ties with them, but also benefit from their skills, which they are happy to reciprocate with encouragements, advise, tips and gifts to the apprentice concerned.
This usually have positive psychological implications on the apprentice.
Apprenticeship can provide an engagement for many idle youths. It will also raise the hope of being self-sufficient in the apprentice so long as he/she can finish his/her training and competently enter the labor market. It is a more hopeful investment of personal time.
Apprenticeship is a viable solution to many of our socio-economic problems. It can adjust a lot of our economic ills. And while doing it, it rocks!
References:
1. World Demographics Profile 2018 – https://www.indexmundi.com/world/demographics_profile.html (Retrieved 17-4-2019)
2. Moore’s Law – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore’s_law (Retrieved 17-4-2019)
3. Examples of Petitions for more emojis- https://www.change.org/t/emoji-en-us (Retrieved 17-4-2019)
4. Rogers Makanjuola (2012). Water Must Flow Uphill: Adventures in university administration. Page 128. Mosuro Publishers. ISBN: 9783786199.
5. Ibid.
6. Apprenticeship – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprenticeship (Retrieved 15-4-2019)
7. Public sector apprenticeship targets – https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/public-sector-apprenticeship-targets (Retrieved 17-4-2019)
8. Apprenticeship. Everything you need to know about UK Apprenticeship – https://www.ucas.com/apprenticeships-in-the-uk (Retrieved 15-4-2019)
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