German Adult Education Conference

Education and training provides the option of remaining

On the occasion of the 14th German Adult Education Conference, Dr. Gerd Müller, Federal Minister, highlighted the work of the German Adult Education Association (DVV) in developing countries.

In light of the global inflow of refugees, education and training is key to offering people hope and future prospects - in particular in crisis situations. The Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is therefore actively fighting for the global right to education and training - even for people fleeing their home countries as well as in countries where violence in conflict is rife.

Federal Minister Gerd Müller commented, "Half the refugees from the war in Syria are children and young people. Many have not been able to attend school for many years. We must not leave them and many other millions without access to education and training. Societies will otherwise lose their most important resource and the risk of refugees once again fleeing their homes will arise. The German Adult Education Association is makes an outstanding contribution with education and training courses for refugees in the immediate neighbouring countries."

In collaboration with the DVV, education and training centres have been created in Jordan and Turkey in which refugees and local people can, for example, attend language courses and basic business courses. Almost 200,000 people, one third of which are women, learn each year in adult education organisations in Afghanistan.

The BMZ has also doubled its school and education and training provision for the countries around Syria. For example, with funding of more than €120 million, the BMZ is the largest bilateral donor to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) program in Lebanon 'Reaching all Children with Education (RACE)'.

With the BNZ support, half a million children are able to attend school in the countries neighbouring Syria. As a result of the programme 'Cash for Work', the intention is also to appoint approximately 8,000 additional teachers in Turkey by the end of the year. The BMZ is assisting in the vocational education and training of 50,000 young people in Turkey and in Egypt.

Since the 1960s and through its institute for international collaboration (DVV International), the DVV has been actively engaged worldwide in more than 30 countries and has been an important partner to the BMZ. In its projects, it implements proposals in Youth and Adult Education. This means that those who cannot be reached by the formal education and training system also receive access to education. The German Adult Education Conference takes place every five years.