Building Swiss-style career paths

Preparing young people for the workforce -- even if they don't earn a college degree -- is a priority for Democrats (83 percent) and Republicans (88 percent), according to a survey by PDK, an educators' group. It's one of the few bipartisan education issues, along with hiring and retaining good teachers, reports Linda Jacobson on The 74.

But creating viable non-college career paths is the kind of thing that that gets mentioned in party platforms and governors' state of the state speeches, yet never goes to scale.

Could that change?

Swiss teenagers often attend school part time and work as apprentices part time starting at the age of 15.

Indiana government, business and education officials are trying to create a Swiss-style apprenticeship system, reports Patrick O’Donnell on The 74. With funding and leadership from the Fairbanks Foundation, they're working with the Center on the Economics and Management of Education and Training Systems (CEMETS) at ETH Zurich. The goal is to expand youth apprenticeships from 500 today to 50,000 in 10 years.

"Among potential changes coming to Indiana based on the Swiss system are letting 11th and 12th graders work part time while attending school part time; and letting businesses have a say in which work skills schools teach students," writes O'Donnell.

In addition to traditional apprenticeships in building trades, Swiss apprenticeships include health care, manufacturing, information technology, banking and other career fields. About two thirds of students in Switzerland participate in apprenticeships, many starting part-time work at age 15. Some will go on to college for academic training, while most go directly to skilled jobs.

CareerWise apprentices in Elkhart County, Indiana.

In Switzerland, industry associations in each field define necessary skills and write the training curricula. Apprentices train for jobs in the industry, not at a single employer. The Indiana coalition, which includes employers and high school and community college leaders, is hoping to duplicate that.

CareerWise, which started in Colorado, also is creating youth apprenticeships inspired by the Swiss model. In Elkhart County, Indiana, 62 apprentices will work this fall as paralegals, classroom aides, medical assistants and in manufacturing jobs.

It's not easy for school leaders to collaborate with employers, said Jane Allen, former superintendent of Middlebury Community Schools in Elkhart. “Business moves at 100 miles an hour and education is pokey poke, I mean turtle time,”

Employers and trade groups are skeptical about the Biden administration's "registered apprenticeship" grants, writes Rebecca Rainey for Bloomberg.

It "appears to disproportionately benefit unionized contractors and unions,” said Ben Brubeck of the Associated Builders and Contractors, a construction industry trade association.

Pre-existing programs will have an unfair advantage, says John Pallasch, who worked in the Department of Labor in the Trump administration. New ideas could be shut out.

The proposed rule "would burden apprenticeship programs with red tape, extra costs and more bureaucracy," writes Rachel Wallen Oglesby of the America First Policy Institute.

It "would require businesses to provide apprentices the same benefits as full-time employees, including retirement benefits, paid family leave, healthcare, and more, from the outset," driving up costs and discouraging businesses from participating, she writes. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) rules and reporting requirements also would drive up costs.