Education
Adult education centers: Great interest in finance and saving
There is a clear trend in enrollment at community colleges. photo
© Marijan Murat/dpa
Courses on finance and saving seem to be very popular. This is announced by the Adult Education Association. There is another topic that is in high demand.
More and more consumers are interested in these topics Be well informed about finances and saving and receive appropriate training. “We notice that there is increasing demand for it,” said the spokeswoman for the German Adult Education Association in Bonn, Sabrina Basler. Courses and information events, for example on investments, heirs and power of attorney, but also on savings options for heating or contracts with energy suppliers, will therefore be increasingly offered at many adult education centers (VHS) in 2024.
The topic of artificial intelligence (AI) will also play a major role in the new year. “This ranges from basics such as “What is AI?” to concrete applications, for example for work processes,” explained Basler. In the area of political education, many adult education centers have events in their program for the 2024 European elections.
Cooking courses, creative activities such as painting, photography or sewing as well as health and relaxation courses remained eternal favorites. In terms of language courses, in addition to the classics English and French, there has been a trend towards languages such as Japanese and Korean in recent years – and now also Ukrainian.
After two years of losses due to the effects of the corona pandemic, adult education centers are seeing themselves on the rise again. According to the association, more than 500,000 courses with around 13.5 million teaching hours took place in 2022. This is an increase of 45 percent compared to the previous year. The number of participants increased by more than 60 percent to 5.4 million.
Overall, according to Basler, the numbers were not yet at the pre-Corona level. However, this is expected to be achieved again in 2023. There are around 860 adult education centers in Germany.
German Adult Education Association