[weldtoride]

Welcome, Andrew from a retired voc-ed teacher.

Keep up the good work.

Don't know how it is there, but here in the States at the junior high and high school levels, (grades 6-12) it's a constant battle for our programs to simply exist. A general perception of school administrators is that trades are dead. Meanwhile the trades themselves here are crying for new entrants. We are also dealing with increased competition to enter 4 year colleges and universities, causing high school students to pass on any kind of tech classes in lieu of more academic credits.

It's not all dismal, we do have strong community college 2 year systems in most states, and many of those are rich with excellent trade offerings. I take classes for enrichment at my local 2 year community college, including CAD classes. Being who I am, I naturally wander down to the shops, and can attest to the quality.

But reports from my friends who are still teaching at the high school level are much different, with often unsupportive administrations.