A further pillar of the Hidden Champions’ competitive strength is the unique German dual system of apprenticeship, which combines practical and theoretical training in non-academic trades. The Hidden Champions invest 50% more in vocational training than the average German company.
I think a 4 year college degree does not make sense for a lot of jobs. It just puts students with more debt, and sometimes skills that don't lead to a job.
I did take this technical route (focusing on electronics, computer networking and programming) and it give me some edge when I started my CS degree, but further study of medicine, law or even art is out of question as I don't had any theoretical basics for those majors. All I study during my high school was mathematics, physics and specialised subjects.
Post high school you either go work (you already spent few years on the job during school) or uni.
There are tons of jobs that are closed to you when you choose wrong path at the age of 14 or 15 and it is really hard to change the tracks.
It is good system for manufacturing companies and economy, but not that great for some people.
In many academic traits it's actually beneficial to go for an apprenticeship first. Architects often become carpenters of masons before studying architecture, a friend of mine who's a nurse got her Dr. med. last week. The list could go on for a while.
there are classes with older pupils (~19-30 years old), but they're the minority. most are, as you kindly noted before, between 15 and 18.
and i honestly can't agree on this constant praise for this system. i'm just finishing with my apprenticeship and the school part was a total joke. i think the highlight of my time there was me entering the class and saying 'good morning' to the teacher, who responded with 'shut up, i want to sleep'. which was followed by 270 minutes of "self study" on the internet.
and the payment for this exercise is a joke as well. you actually get less than our social security (hartz iv) would be giving you for doing nothing.
Well, the thing is that college and university don't cost as much and there are various government and private funds you can take advantage off. Counting from personal anecdotes, I think only 1 student in my current semester group is actually on a credit debt and that not entirely related to university spending either.