An evening in favour of dual training: The family-run company Roth Industries hosted a "Business and Science Forum" in the atrium in Buchenau to shed light on the topic of skills shortages and dual training from different perspectives.
"How can we get young people interested in training and starting their careers here in the region?" With these words, also the key question of the evening, Dr Anne-Kathrin Roth from the shareholder family welcomed around 100 guests - including the Hessian Minister of Education Alexander Lorz, who opened the evening with a keynote speech.
The Minister of State addressed the significant decline in the number of training contracts concluded, but also emphasised: "Dual vocational training is a successful model that is the envy of the whole world." The Union politician explained the various measures that politics, business and associations have jointly developed to strengthen vocational training. "The dual system needs strong partners: strong training companies and strong vocational schools," said Minister Lorz, "attractive training opportunities for applicants on the one hand and support for weaker trainees on the other are crucial for attracting new skilled workers."
He thanked the Roth family of shareholders for organising the panel discussion and for the invitation: "With your company principles: family, dynamic and responsible, you have mastered the challenges of recent decades." Now they are facing the challenge of the shortage of skilled labour and the recruitment of new trainees together.
What measures companies, politicians and chambers are taking here, what regional particularities there are and how important the issue of the location of vocational schools is - this was subsequently discussed on the podium. Around 100 decision-makers from politics, business, schools and administration followed the discussion, in which Marie-Sophie Künkel (state parliament candidate for constituency 12), Dietmar Persch (Managing Director of IHK Lahn-Dill), Minister of State Lorz, Frank Interthal from the Kreishandwerkerschaft and Michael Donges, Head of HR at Roth Industries, presented their perspectives on the current situation - moderated by Gerd Manthei, Professor at the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen and Head of the "StudiumPlus" branch office in Biedenkopf. The panel agreed that we need to adapt to the ideas of "Generation Z", that proximity to vocational schools plays a decisive role and that the already very close cooperation between schools, business and politics should be further expanded and intensified.
After the final Q&A session, the guests took the opportunity to socialise and network. "We are delighted that so many people came, it shows how much commitment there is to dual training here in the region," said Anne-Kathrin Roth, summarising the evening positively.
