> Still, the apprenticeship system works, even if the standards have been raised. The standards for these jobs surely have raised a litle - but mostly the stan

> Still, the apprenticeship system works, even if the standards have been raised. The standards for these jobs surely have raised a litle - but mostly the standards of Hauptschulabschluss and Realschulabschluss (I don't know how to translate these words into English) have declined. Things that every graduate of a Hauptschule, say, 40-50 years ago, had to know, say, in writing German text or numeracy, can not be assumed anymore. So the problem in my opinion mostly lies in the decline of standards in schools instead of new, harder requirements to become an apprentice.