Wonderful article with so much depth and reflection. Skilling /upskilling people is an issue close to my heart. I worked in Germany for years in the area of Vocational Education and Training (VET) and its export to developing countries. Germany has one of the most skilled workforces in the world with the majority of its population going through VET. It also has a very permeable system of continuing on to university. VET and SMEs are the backbone of the German economy. VET, especially in the technical/technological fields is highly regarded. A problem I experienced in many other countries, especially in developing countries, with their level of academic unemployed and high level of unskilled workers, is the low esteem regarding VET.

By the way, Germany, is also one of the countries with the lowest level of unemployed youth. This may have changed since I left Germany two years ago with the high influx of young refugees. I need to check this.

Sorry for my long response, but as I said this is a topic which I’m pretty passionate about. Good luck with propagating your beliefs.