>>12489
> But isn't the German system a bit inefficient?
Everything in Germany is inefficient.
> Segregating students into different school tracks when they are only 10 years old, seems wasteful.
Jup, has been the topic of public debate for decades. It's getting better though. The lowest tier, the Hauptschule, is dying, and the highest tier, the Gymnasium, will be next.
> So if someone is a late bloomer he will be forever a plumber or electrician?
No. Has never been the case. Germany has more education tracks than most other countries. I Bernd droped out of school without getting any qualification to go to university, but retook those lessons in a year-long evening course years later and now I have a masters degree in Computer Science even though I have been working a normal job all the time. Several of my colleagues did similar things. It doesn't even have to be expensive, it's just a time committment.