Arizona schools chief Tom Horne announces commission for workforce development
On Thursday, the Arizona Department of Education announced the launch of the Arizona Education Economic Commission, a collaboration among the state's career and technical education programs, employers and representatives of the governments of Switzerland, Taiwan and the Navajo Nation.
The commission is intended to address a skilled workforce shortage and benefit students in the state's career and technical education programs.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Lucid Motors and Banner Health are all engaged in the partnership, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said Thursday at a news conference.
The companies will either show career and technical education teachers what skills to teach or provide career and technical education programs with individuals to teach, Horne said.
According to Colette Chapman, who oversees the state's adult education and career and technical education programs, there are 90 programs of study in Arizona's career and technical education programs, and the programs include work-based learning opportunities and youth apprenticeships. There are 21 state-sponsored adult education programs across 100 sites, she said.
On Thursday, Jacques Pitteloud, the Swiss Ambassador to the United States, said that Switzerland is "honored to serve as a founding member" of the commission.
Balz Abplanalp, from the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco, said that Switzerland has a century-long tradition of "upskilling young people at their workplace, trained by experienced professionals at the same place."
According to Abplanalp, 70% of people in Switzerland choose an apprenticeship in their mid-teens after their compulsory school. There are apprenticeships across 250 professions, he said.
Apprentices typically spend 3 to 4 days at their workplace and one or two days in school, and the apprenticeships last three to four years, Abplanalp said. He said that research has shown that if you complete an apprenticeship, your risk of unemployment is smaller than after college.
As part of the Arizona Education Economic Commission, Abplanalp said, Switzerland will share experiences, expertise and best practices regarding apprenticeships. It's an opportunity for Switzerland to continue to invest in the U.S. by supporting a skilled workforce, he said. Switzerland is the seventh-largest foreign direct investor in the U.S., and its companies have created half a million jobs in the U.S., he said.
David Cheng-Han Lee, the director of the Taiwan Ministry of Education, said Thursday that in recent years, the partnership between Taiwan and Arizona has "grown stronger than ever."
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. complex being built in north Phoenix and Arizona's recent establishment of a trade office in Taiwan are a testament to that relationship, he said. Partnering with the commission, he said, is a way to further develop international cooperation in semiconductor research and cultivate semiconductor industry talents — in this case, by deepening partnerships between universities and vocational high schools in Taiwan and schools in Arizona.
Stuart Shoen, the executive vice president of U-Haul, said that what makes an individual successful at U-Haul — beyond the ability to do math and write — is being career-minded, group-oriented, and oriented to service.
"I learned a lot of wonderful things in my traditional education experience, but I didn't learn a lot about that," he said. "At U-Haul, we'd like to be a part of talking to people in this program about that, and not just talking about it but actually demonstrating and showing how it works."
Madeleine Parrish covers K-12 education. Reach her at mparrish@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @maddieparrish61.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona schools chief Tom Horne announces commission for workforce development
