For years it was a central bone of contention in local politics in Oberschleißheim: Can and should the local adult education center keep its independence? The independence remained intact, five years ago they even moved into their own building for the first time – and now a merger is pending. For structural reasons, the adult education center wants to join the district association of adult education centers in Dachau. A political front line is not yet recognizable this time, but there is still some misunderstanding in the town hall.
The Bavarian Adult Education Association has put the pistol on its chest with new funding requirements. The umbrella organization no longer accepts the 15,000 double hours of participants as a measure of the performance volume of an adult education center that Oberschleißheim achieves annually; The minimum is now 30,000 participants double lessons. The VHS Oberschleißheim therefore needs a strategic partner in order to continue to be supported.
The aim of the new specification for the state association is that the range of programs is improved by the larger units, that the adult education centers are noticed more and internal synergy effects are created, for example in quality management. “We could have done it on our own,” assures Oberschleißheim VHS manager Isabelle Herbst, “but the advantages are quite understandable.”
VHS manager Isabelle Herbst (left, with Rodica Rimbu) moving into her own premises five years ago.
(Photo: Alessandra Schellnegger)
The VHS Nord in Oberschleißheim’s neighboring municipalities of Garching, Ismaning, Unterföhring and Unterschleißheim has long been in this league due to the merger that took place decades ago. A neighbor that has also remained solo, the VHS Eching, is currently merging with the tiny neighbors Allershausen and Fahrenzhausen. Oberschleißheim has therefore oriented itself beyond the district border into the Dachau region. “This is a partner with whom we will harmonize well,” expects Herbst. The adult education center already has participants from the Dachau region and also works with course leaders from the facilities there.
The “Volkshochschulen Dachau Land” network, made up of nine adult education centers and one branch office, has long been organized there as a working and interest group, which is managed by a central office. Members are the adult education centers of Altomünster, Bergkirchen, Erdweg, Haimhausen, Karlsfeld, Odelzhausen-Pfaffenhofen-Sulzemoos, Petershausen, Röhrmoos, Schwabhausen, Vierkirchen and, as a branch, Hilgertshausen-Tandern.
The Oberschleißheim adult education center is now to become a further member, and the association has already given its consent. This gives it a seat in the general assembly and is represented internally by the VHS Dachau Land in relation to the state and federal associations. The programming is also done jointly, which according to the Oberschleißheim VHS will mean that users will also have access to the Dachau offers, but the Oberschleißheim program will remain.
The club structure of the facility will be retained, and the program will also be designed by the facility itself
The association structure of the Oberschleißheim Adult Education Center will be retained, and it will design its own program. The diverse cooperation with local associations and institutions, for example with the “Dachauer Moos” association, which is also active in Oberschleißheim and the Dachau region, will remain untouched. According to the VHS, the subsidy requirement of the municipality that finances the offer will not increase. Costs for the merger and future interfaces would be paid in the budget, offset by savings from synergy effects or absorbed by relevant support funds from the umbrella organization.
“Nothing will change for our users, except that they will also have direct access to the Dachauer Land program,” assures Herbst. The office at the indoor pool will remain the contact for the town hall, the Dachau Land office will take on purely internal tasks. The Oberschleißheim special construction, according to which the VHS offers instrumental lessons on behalf of the municipality instead of a music school, will remain completely unchanged.
The VHS Oberschleißheim was founded on January 11, 1953, at that time as the second adult education center in the district of Munich. The first program offered nine courses ranging from shorthand to accounting to tailoring and attracted 65 participants. When the VHS Nord was formed by the communities of Garching, Ismaning, Unterföhring and Unterschleißheim in 1971, Oberschleißheim was left out.
The founder and director at the time, Arnold Binder, absolutely wanted to retain the independence of Oberschleißheim. There was a heated argument about this position, in which strong personal animosity was expressed and local politics was held hostage for years. Only when the protagonists left the municipal council and later also from the adult education center did this conflict subside. In December 2017, the office moved some of the course rooms into the converted former sauna by the indoor pool, which means that the Adult Education Center can now use its own rooms for the first time.