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The participants in the panel discussion at the ceremony: Professor Matthias Alke, Aalen’s mayor Frederick Brütting, Professor Annette Limbuger, Dr. Tobias Diemer and Claudia Hinsen, deputy head of the Vhs Aalen (from left). © Edwin Hügler
The Aalen educational institution has existed for 75 years. How it wants to position itself for the future and why it is important for society was the topic of the panel discussion at the ceremony.
Aalen. The Association of the Adult Education Center (Vhs) Aalen celebrated its 75th anniversary on Friday with a ceremony and a panel discussion in the Kulturbahnhof. Mayor Frederick Brütting particularly emphasized the importance of the institution as a “place of learning for everyone”. In the future, we want to encourage even more people from all social classes to engage in lifelong learning.
The city costs the VHS at least 484,000 euros per year, said Brütting. This is money well spent, because the adult education center offers added value for urban society with its high quality of attendance. The networked work of the adult education center with other institutions is also important. The Mayor cited the cooperation between the Vhs and the Aalen Youth Art School as a positive example.
The first chairwoman of the Aalen Adult Education Center Association, Professor Annette Limburger, emphasized in the panel discussion moderated by Anke von Heyl that in the future the Vhs must succeed in attracting more people from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds to its offerings. It is important for the adult education center to do even more justice to its role as the glue of society. Input from outside also plays a big role. “Networking is key,” said Limburger.
The VHS also has a socio-political significance
The director of the Baden-Württemberg Adult Education Association, Dr. Tobias Diemer, described the Vhs Aalen as part of the public service. In the future, it will also be important to take advantage of the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence and digital learning, but the social aspect of the institution must also be preserved. This was also emphasized by Professor Matthias Alke from the University of Tübingen, who also emphasized the great importance of professionalism and quality. The deputy head of the Aalen Adult Education Center, Claudia Hinsen, drew attention to the socio-political importance of the Vhs in the sense of “learning democracy”. She would like to see even more input from young people in the future. It’s also about people learning from each other. Teaching staff are increasingly required to act as moderators in this process.
Online formats are becoming increasingly important in the dynamic further training market
Alke gave a keynote speech on the topic “Volkshochschulen as institutions of lifelong learning”. He showed that the participation of adults in further training in Germany is high, but has been stagnating for years. Face-to-face formats continue to dominate, although online offerings are also becoming more important. The continuing education market is very dynamic and is characterized by a shortage of skilled teaching staff.
Diemer congratulated the Aalen Adult Education Association on its anniversary and emphasized that adult education centers are places of democracy. It is important to counteract the increasing threat from the right-wing and Islamist sides through education.
The refugee representative for the city of Aalen, Amruta Kane, who comes from India, impressively described how she managed to integrate into Aalen through language courses at the VHS. Garcia Abele also expressed this in a video message. The evening was accompanied musically by the band “Four Men of the World”.
