[AnimalMuppet]

What's good about it: It produces people who actually know how to do the work, and does so more efficiently than college. The way we do it in the US is dependent on a company being able to decide who can and cannot do the work in a few hours of interviewing, and that doesn't work all that well.

What's wrong with it: It (probably) closes the door to non-traditional entry into the trades. Also, presuming I understand it correctly, it makes it hard to change careers. You hit 40, and decide that you don't like the life you chose as a 16-year-old? Well, if you can re-take it at 40, that means three years of low-paid internship at some other trade.