Don’t the Germans do much the same thing? Where in the world did we get the idea that EVERY kid needed to go on to college?
Yep, same deal for Germans. My son went through the episode.
You can add one to two years onto the nine-year program...calling it an extension period...mostly for kids who haven’t figured out a trade or been accepted by any company (a commercial company has to sponsor you...paying you roughly 300-Euro a month...once you enter the trade school program, and you do at least twenty hours of class work a week, and twenty hours of work at the sponsor company)....all for three years. It ends up being something of an associates degree in a trade.
Most European countries run the same scheme. Note, no German school runs sports programs....like football or basketball or baseball. If you want to participate in sports like that....you go to the village or town...sign up for their program, and do it on your own. Schools stay out of sports competition.