When I was in junior high school (6th/7th/8th grades) in the US, in the mid 1970s, we girls weren't taught cooking in "home ec", just sewing. (They still called it "home ec" even though we didn't learn a single thing about home economics--other than, I suppose, that it was implied that it's cheaper to know how to sew than not to know.) I assume this was because the costs were much lower for sewing. The school already owned half a dozen sewing machines, and we had to provide all our own fabric, patterns, thread, and other supplies. I can't imagine the school having the budget for any food for cooking classes, so we probably would have had to bring in food supplies, but I don't think the school had any stoves or refrigerators or cooking classroom by then.

The boys took "shop", which by then was just woodworking, no metal work. In some sort of short-lived exchange program, we girls got to take shop for about two weeks, during which I drill pressed, sanded, and waxed a nice wood candleholder for my parents. I wonder what the boys sewed.

My cooking education came from my mom. My education in power tools and basic electrical repairs and how to change a car tire came from my dad.