By Dr. Ingrid Schöll, Head of the VHS Bonn
On 13 May, Forum 4 of the Adult Education Conference discussed the question of whether and to what extent a shortage of specialists in Germany is to be expected in the future, and what role continuing education could play in this regard. Answers to the controversial task for the future came under the moderation of Dr. Ingrid Schöll (VHS Bonn), Gabriele Sons (General Manager Gesamtmetall), Dr. Regina Görner (CEO of IG Metall), Prof. Dr. Haci Halil Uslucan (Centre for Turkish Studies), Prof. Dr. Margret Wintermantel (President of the Rectors' Conference), and Prof. Dr. Katarina Popovic (Chair at the University of Belgrade and member of dvv international). Catherine Seewald commented on the speeches from the VHS point of view.
The panel was unanimous in the conclusion that people who up to now have belonged to the losers or the early "outsourced" must be recruited for the job market. These are primarily young people without professional qualifications and the elderly who may no longer take early retirement. Their adaptation and re-qualification cannot only take place within the realm of the existing education and training system. The Adult Education Centres are required and need to contribute their expertise in the combination of general and vocational education to make these target groups ready for the job market and to ensure their employability and ability to work longer. That health education will also be a factor not to be underestimated is self-evident and was highlighted by Ms. Sons and Dr. Görner.
Professor Uslucan outlined the opportunities and risks of the ethnic economy and gave a stern warning that Germany is isolating itself through its explicit orientation on formal degree qualifications. The "outcome orientation" of the EU – made clear by Prof. Popovic from a European point of view – clearly requires a look at what someone can do rather than to verify which certificates someone possesses.
Professor Wintermantel emphasised the opportunities that lie in the new mobility opportunities of national and international qualification frameworks and explained the need for a comprehensive competency orientation. The rate of dropouts, which is still much too high – 25 to 28 percent of the yearly group leave university shortly after beginning their studies – presents a problem. The necessary bridge course activities could be an interface between Adult Education Centres and universities. The culture of recognition between further and higher education must therefore be improved, stressed the representative of the DVV, Katarina Seewald who, in addition, identified new concepts for the integration of women – especially single mothers – in the labor market. A high-quality knowledge of the German language is necessary for academically qualified persons with immigrant backgrounds in the course of the activation of the new workforce. Here, the DVV is hoping for a continuation of initiatives from the BAMF.
Prof. Popovic and Prof. Uslucan reminded the Adult Education Centres of their vocational, general and political education duties towards people with an immigrant background and towards Germans. The strict differentiation of paths in the training system, its highly legal nature and regulation oriented toward final degree qualification resulted in vulnerable young people being quickly stopped in their tracks and people who are very well qualified from their countries of origin in seeking career opportunities in the Anglo-Saxon or in other more flexible and tolerant countries with more open education systems.
For Professor Uslucan, Germany is a country that is characterised by a high "uncertainty avoidance" in its vocational education system. He urged much needed correction of deeply-rooted stereotypes: For example, Turkey is now a self-assured trade partner, with 6 to 9 percent growth. Turkey’s image is changing around the world. A new dialogue and new cultural openness with a departure from the old "guest worker" image is objectively overdue or will be in the future – assuming a stabilisation of economic development in Turkey. Everything else, according to Professor Uslucan, gives rise to the fears stirred up by Thilo Sarrazin and is ultimately a problem for the German labor market.
