APPRENTICESHIP AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING

I must admit that there are not very many things I agree with Donald Trump with, but yesterday in his news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he made a public announcement about pushing apprenticeships and vocational training for American workers.

It is not that it is a new thing to the United States. The Obama administration pledged nearly $200 million to support apprenticeships in September 2015, but it caught my attention, since it is something I feel strongly about.

In my 50 years spent on this continent, I have never been able to understand why there has not been more effort and importance spent for apprenticeships and vocational training; not only for the young people, but for

older people who likes to work with their hands and would like to get higher skills in their area of interest.

Vocational training is certainly not anything new in Europe. F. ex. My husband Bent Lindhardt’s grandfather Ludvig Wilhelm Giesmann 1865-1928, was a professional fine furniture carpenter.

Bent still have these two of his pieces of furniture in our home. 

My ex-husband Keld Harly Neumann Johansen had a five-year apprentice in Bookbinding.

My sisters Inge Lise’s grandson had a 5-year vocational training a butcher.

In Europe, most young people who decide not to go to University, take vocational training and apprenticeships to get good paying manual jobs.

My Father Lars Vilhelm Henry Madsen did not get a vocational training nor went to University so he had a difficult time finding a good paying job until he got a in the Danish military as “Depot Forvalter”.

As a matter of fact, in Denmark people who do not have academic degrees or vocational training or apprentices can only find work in restaurants, factories, cleaning business etc.

When the European Immigrants flooded the United States and Canada, their high level of skilled labor was to great advantage for the building of the new country. Trained and skilled laborers with accredited apprenticeship training were in high demand then and is again now.

As a matter of fact, I would not be surprised if the future might have more demand for a skilled laborer than a highly-trained technologist.

Vibeke Lindhardt

18 March 2017