Refugees: A challenge for adult education [antikvár]

People seeking refuge: A challenge for adult educationVolkshochschule (VHS)1: Integration for all!Long queues on registration day for a VHS had become a rarity by 2015. Such an onslaught on the educational programme was unfamiliar and worthwhile of attention from many media outlets. And that is how, in the summer of last year, the current situation of community further education centres landed in the focus of public interest.In the meantime, so many people had sought refuge in Germany that not only the registration offices but also the educational institutions arrived at the limits of their capacities. VHS language and integration courses were swiftly booked out, professional course instructors and suitable rooms in the communities became scarce. In this situation, the VHS associations got active and proclaimed loudly and clearly to the leaders in politics and administration as well as to Germany: "We can do it!" This was the core message of a concept paper in which the VHS demanded a comprehensive educational campaign for refugees and German society in autumn 2015. Together, the national associations of the VHS and the Federal Office of the German Volkshochschul-Verband e.V. (DVV) formulated guidelines for effective education management in order to adequately counter the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees. "Important success factors for integration are local and time-sensitive orientation and education offers," said the position paper.As community centres for intercultural learning and as the largest provider of German language and integration courses, the VHS were the obvious choice as strong local partners. The concept, which was published in time for the refugee summit of the Federal Republic, the states and local authorities, simultaneously set out the financial support needed for the VHS in order for it to be able to fulfil the role of an engine for integration. The situation also revealed both strengths and weaknesses. The