throwing spanner and screwdriver

The other evening I was at a gathering with fellow mechanical engineers at the club. Over dinner we chatted and shared our experience at work.

One engineer, who works at the polytechnic, shared a scene at the school's workshop. A student was asking the workshop assistant where he could find a spanner. So the assistant pointed towards the rack and told the student to grab it himself. The student returned with a screwdriver in hand.

Seriously, I fail to see the similarity between the spanner and the screwdriver except the fact that you use both with your hand. While I did not go through the polytechnic path, I've always have high respect for them because of their relatively richer hands-on experience. This may just be an isolated case, or is it?

Recently there has been some discussions on the newspaper regarding university qualification. Something along the line of the emphasis on technical education during the nation's early years and blah blah... Somehow I find it sad if a mechanical engineer has never touched a spanner or screwdriver. Just the other day, a colleague was surprised I could recognise a crank shaft, even though my industry has no connection with engines. Well, am I not supposed to know, as a mechanical engineer?

At least I can say by the time I received my university certificate, I've touched the lathe and mill before. What about our next batches of engineers? I wonder.