>This sounds particularly like a US centric view of the education system.

It is based off my own experiences and knowledge, which are US and Japan centric. Make of that what you will.

>I disagree, these two things are dangerous when done incorrectly and are regulated industries in most countries. People with a little knowledge are dangerous. If you want to understand electrical you need to be full time on that for a while. School is for foundational things like can you read and do Maths.

Knowing very simple things like how to operate circuit breakers and electrical panels, or how to fix faucets and toilets go a long way towards making life more fulfilling. Hiring a plumber or electrician to do what is practically a $10 job could run you several hundreds instead, and waste time and nerves if you end up with a lousy professional which the vast majority are.

Life is just more enjoyable in general if you can do more things yourself, and/or taught the attitude to become so.

>How are these things "worthless" says a lot about you if you think world history is worthless ...

Fact of the matter is, knowing what Abraham Lincoln said during the Gettysburg Address or what year Queen Victoria was coronated aren't going to help me file taxes or otherwise live a life. Likewise calculus, algebra, etc.

We can teach students such superfluous knowledge after teaching things that are essential to life first. Teach people how to file taxes so nobody has to deal with Quickbooks/Intuit or hire a costly CPA. Teach people how to budget their money so less people become destitute. Teach people how their government works so they can be productive and contribute, rather than uselessly bitch about it.

>There is a whole industry that you pay money to do this. Operating a car is a dangerous activity and must be taught correctly. It also requires you actually drive in a car the practicality of teaching a whole school this just isn't there.

Neither is it practical to tell someone "go and practice on the highway", unless it's absolutely okay to go around hitting and running things over.

Something as fundamental to life as driving a car should be standard and mandatory school curriculum.

>You do get taught this at school I remember going through these types of examples.

I certainly didn't, and my impression is most people haven't either since it's quite common for them to lambast credit cards without knowing how they even work.

> How to clean their own clothes and bedsheets

Personally, my mother taught me it (along with cooking), but not everyone necessarily has that luxury for one reason or another.

Again, life's necessities should be part of school curriculum in lieu of superfluous knowledge with questionable value.

>Not sure you've thought that through but an incorrectly repaired electrical appliance can burn your house down and an incorrectly fixed leaky faucet can flood your house.

It is always better to know how things around you in life work than it is to not know, much less not know while being taught things that will never be relevant to your life.

It is striking how ignorant of the basics a lot of people are, and I blame that in part to schools never bothering to teach them. If someone doesn't know how to calculate wattage from voltage and amperes, for example, something in the education system has failed.

>They still are! In Scotland it was called technical studies and taught things like basic woodwork with handtools and how to wire a plug that sort of thing.

That's actually good to know, and I wish practical classes like that would become more prevalent in schools everywhere.