Makes sense to me. Most jobs that require a college degree don't actually require college-level skills, that's just a form of union card. Makes sense to cut back on the number of second- and third-rate college diplomas, eliminate college as requirement for jobs that don't require those skills, and to provide useful training instead. For example, as they do in Germany.
when a kid gets to be 14 or so, an assessment should be made as to what kind of job (s)he is suited for or actually wants. if there isn't any reason for the kid to go through a college education, there is little reason to attend a comprehensive high school. but that doesn't mean that the further education should skip all academic disciplines. there should be some effort to make sure the kid is able to read well enough to take care of the necessary elements of adulthood, like reading labels on food products and filling out applications, stuff like that. also, the education up to that point should have covered important areas like health and nutrition, including disease prevention, both STD and other concerns, like heart disease and cancer. a young person who is going to be an auto mechanic or a carpenter, a chef or a bus driver, a cop or a car salesman doesn't need to have read Julius Caesar or Fahrenheit 451. certainly young people should be encouraged to do independent reading, and a list of books can be provided that would appeal to general readership, but writing essays on To Kill a Mockingbird, while a valuable exercise for many teens, is not an experience that is compelling enough to be required.
"The unexamined life is not worth living" - Plato I wouldn't dream of passing through life without giving myself a few years to encounter the best of what our academic accomplishments, our empirical prodding and our lasting conceptual analyses, have given us. Whether in college or just on your own.