Mobile Phone and tablet repair courses?

Old question but since the topic was woken up, I'm just going to say it (even if it's "controversial™" to a certain group): I detest the US education system because unless you go to a class, you're labeled an "idiot" by the system and your peers who fell for it. For that reason alone, I am firmly against "repair school" as an idea out of principle. That said I recognize you need college or law school for some fields, sure. For everyone else, it is usually NOT a requirement and a complete waste of your 2-4 years. The time wasted in a class could be used in the field on relevant devices, without carrying any student debt.
Take for example how I came to own a Maxxum 7: I bought one with a bad shutter gear (something you can no longer buy; the part is NLA and a PITA to swap, it's usually the end of the body unless you're brave enough to take 3/4 of it apart and swap the plastic gear for a metal one). Rather than give up I saw it as an opportunity to get a cheap 7 even if it was "repaired" and wasn't broken as I got it. After finding one with a bad film door I moved the intact film door (from the "BER" 7) to the good 7. That repair got me one of the best film SLRs (which run with the best of Nikon and Canon like the EOS ELAN 7, EOS 1, and high-end Nikon) for almost nothing.
Was it probably more time-efficient to import one from Japan? Probably, but the price difference made up for the extra work to get there; that, and I know it's been tested harder than a good one I KNOW is good and film tested with a junk roll 2x. The ONLY "downside" (like it matters, frankly) is if someone asks how much I got it for as a reference (especially seeing as I built 1 good body out of 2) well... it's complicated since it's based on 2: a repairable camera (bad film door) and a fatally dead body (shutter issue, NLA part). Day to day, it means absolutely nothing; it's just as good as any other 7. As such, I'd rather lie or walk.

Rant warning: To be quite frank, I blame the public school system for the "classes for everything" mentality which refuses to die in the US. For most people, it's a waste of time and money since it's not effective. When I was in high school I was dragged to the mandatory college tour. The people I know went to get their parents to leave them alone; yes, we get borderline harassed by the schools and our parents here because it's "expected"*. I target the public school system and colleges more because they are the big reason for this push to go to college even if it is dumb or unnecessary. HOWEVER the parents took the bait too, so they're not off the hook. Most people are better off skipping college and going straight to work (while building early experience) with real experience their peers won't have (which works in your favor), with $0 in student debt. It just comes at the expense of your high school report card (and potential parental harassment about mediocre grades) :-(. I think it's worth the tradeoff, but I was able to fight back.

Yes, I was considered a "failure" in high school. The main thing is I never let it get to dumb me down and become another show of mediocrity. The US school system is a borderline scam where they "nudge" (really, borderline push the matter to become near harassment in some cases) the issue by pushing the student and using the parents as a secondary weapon to learn garbage material... That only benefits the school.
If you let their nonsense get to you it will always end up hurting you as an adult since they look after themselves and their state-funded bonuses, not the students.

This is the reason I do not support "repair school" as a concept; it pushes the same broken concept of education into adulthood further ("If you do not take this overpriced class you could easily accomplish with a few crappy phones, tablets and laptops, you're a FAILURE"). I would rather see a 16-year-old "scrap" their parent's broken phones through the back door by changing it enough that they do not know (or in my case, I was quite brash and waited for my dad to forget than lie). At that point, I just kept the phone to myself once done, and I learned the same concepts!!! If the board is dead, give them their dead motherboard to feel like they got their wishes; hard to tell. If it is simply beyond repair, make your mistakes on that and scrap it in secret for real. Real experience trumps a piece of paper reality will mock.

Yes, higher education can be important, but it's not worth $100k in student debt or wasted time working on old Samsungs very few people bother repairing (except people who can snipe them cheap and know the common failures, which even we give up on after they have 1 or 2 cheap failures like batteries because by that 3rd issue, we have newer devices available as fresh game like the S21 U1's available). "Repair school" is a symptom of the deeper problem in the US about how we look at the value of an education (which needs to be dealt a spiteful, slow painful death). I'm at the point we need to go back to the old way of doing things: self-taught, or trade schools; college ONLY if you need it, not because it's expected. The SOHK, not college, better serves most people.
*Yes, I WAS a victim of this garbage, and the horrible "public school system". That's part of the reason it gets to me as much as it does, I do not hold back. Oh, and you end up with ~100-200k in UNFORGIBEALE STUDENT DEBT.

In general, I didn't get good at repairing certain devices because of classes - I became familiar with them by failing a previous repair, getting it right, or zapping myself with a flash capacitor because I slipped up and got negligent (and things like flash caps only bite once, you never forget again). A lot of the time I go for it and figure it out just because I got a lucky deal on sought-after equipment which needs to be repaired. Getting zapped by flash caps (and frying the camera) is a better teacher than a book and old phones nobody bothers repairing, then getting it right the second time. It doesn't come with a certificate but it results in a superior experience and a camera. You won't get that through a school or in-person course**.
**Minor formality, for transparency. Technically I did, for the last 2 years of high school but my school paid for it but I didn't finish. Hey, it's less money that didn't go to someone's absurd bonus for berating kids with "zero tolerance" while letting the bully off, when the person who fought back and got in trouble IS THE REAL VICTIM.

The problem is schools are rigid and you can't learn what you need or at your own pace; if you struggle, they will happily leave you behind to focus on others who learn like robots. If I'm struggling to see a repair through (especially a desirable camera body or laptop/desktop I’m taking on for my use) I'll set it aside and look for what I need to get it done, not cry and abandon the attempt (aka an F in class, even if it wasn't your fault). If I am working on an HP laptop with an unknown BIOS password (and no backdoor) I can set it aside to find a motherboard/donor, or play with a BIOS dump from the board and try and unlock it. The same goes for locating "NLA" parts. Swapping a focusing screen, film door, or other repairs on a sought-after SLR you want to see through (not one you need to finish for a grade) will teach you about the job (and how to work around unexpected snags), as well as the repaired camera being yours. The other issue is today your shortcut "isn't fair to the class" - yet in the real world, we appreciate people finding a way in quicker. If someone says it's "not fair" that I own one of the best film SLRs made and did it with a donor for less than what people pay for good ones (and a chance to get a few free repairs in the future out of the dead body), I'm going to tell them to shove it!

An example where school fails is you may find a shortcut when you may find a way to get it done quicker, like removing 3-4 screws near the film door latch pins and the flash control switch panel to get to the parts which need to come off (and you only remove half the parts). It may increase assembly precision needed due to increased error intolerance (or if you need the screen from a bad door assembly but you have one with a bad hook and need to make a good door, make one good part from two). If you dry run the donor with care, it leaves you room to try things for real faster.
I've also seen it on laptops where you can get away with removing a few parts and have proper access, but that will not work in these schools or classes where bypassing redundant steps is bad. The issue now is GOD FORBID someone to find a quick way in that's bad because it's all about "equality" in school now, not merit. Finding a quicker way to do things is praised out of school, and rightfully so. If you can remove 2 components to get to the bad component, that's good.