(From Reuters) BERLIN - The German government wants to tackle a growing shortage of skilled workers by tapping a pool of foreigners unable to practise their professions because their credentials are not recognised, a minister said.

Education Minister Annette Schavan told the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper there are some 300,000 foreign residents in Germany with skills that they cannot use because qualifications from their homelands are not recognised.

She said the government would like to pass a law this year to speed up the authentication process for foreigners. Many with medical, engineering and other degrees often work in jobs requiring lesser skills because credentials are not recognised.