Indiana Learning from German Education Model to Close Skills Gap

Last week, Ready Indiana concierge Kris Deckard had the opportunity to participate in a roundtable discussion with Germany’s ambassador to the U.S., Peter Ammon. The main topic was the “skills gap” in Indiana and how the state could learn from the German system.

Echoing what he said he hears from German companies doing business in the U.S., Ammon told an audience (that included Gov. Mike Pence): “America is a wonderful place to do business. But the lack of a properly trained workforce is where the bottleneck is.”

Ammon said the dual system of vocational education in Germany has helped reduce youth unemployment by giving high-school students the real-world skills and education they need to find good-paying jobs while reducing the number of students with dead-end college degrees. Germany offers vocational training for high school students in about 350 different occupations. About 75% of the cost is picked up by private employers, while the rest of the expense is paid for by the federal and state governments in Germany.

For more, read this report from the German Embassy.