Some children in Germany are being made to hand in their toys before entering a ‘Knowledge factory’, a kinda supplementary school to their Monday to Friday one. Apparently, there’s a huge shortage of ‘practical’ skills so Mr Fehrenbach and eight other senior managers founded Wissensfabrik which promotes science and economics among schoolchildren and fosters children’s language skills.
Established five years ago, the organisation has launched an array of projects to improve an education system that seems increasingly unable to cater for the needs of engineering, electronics and vehicle makers, all of which are the backbone of Germany’s export-driven economy. But, and in Gifted Originals’s view is a HUGE ‘but’, primary schoolchildren must trade their cuddly toys before embarking on a “trainee week” at the laser machinery maker!
Now, come on: it’s one thing to want to get children involved in engineering and what not, but why take their toys away, can they not be incorporated into the training? Hmmm, this seems to us like it’s a way of getting them disciplined and prepared early for future employment.
As Henning Kagermann, one of the founders of German software group SAP and president of Acatech, an academy that promotes technical studies and collaborates with Wissensfabrik said, “A successful recruitment strategy has to bank on long-term projects across the whole educational chain – from the early upbringing in kindergarten and the family to a lifelong, on-the-job training.”
Nooooooo, please, please, please let the little ones enjoy being able to play with toys without worrying about looking silly, a conscious awareness that steadily creeps in as we get older. Skill shortage or not, there’s just no excuse!
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