Autonomous university in the German-speaking community
| Autonomous university in the German-speaking community | |
|---|---|
| founding | July 1, 2005 |
| Sponsorship | German-speaking Community of Belgium (state) |
| place | Eupen |
| director | Stephan Boemer |
| Students | 229 (2017/18) |
| Employee | 77 |
| Website | www.ahs-dg.be |
The Autonomous University in the German-speaking Community (AHS), based in Eupen, is the only university in the German-speaking Community of Belgium . It was founded on July 1, 2005 as a new establishment from three previously existing universities and is an institution under public law. It is managed by a board of directors. The AHS offers the bachelor's degrees in nursing , primary school teaching, kindergarten teaching and accounting in three departments . In addition to initial training, further areas of the AHS are further training and research and development.
Initial training
The AHS offers four courses in three subject areas at university level:
- Faculty of Education:
- Bachelor's degree in kindergarten teacher training
- Bachelor's degree in primary school teaching
- Department of Health and Nursing Sciences
- Bachelor's degree in nursing
- Department of Finance and Administrative Sciences
- Dual Bachelor Accounting (in cooperation with the Center for Education and Training for Medium-Sized Enterprises)
In addition, at the secondary level, a nurse certification and a year of preparation for obtaining the vocational high school diploma are offered before an examination board outside the school.
Additional and further training
The autonomous university offers further training for teachers at kindergarten, primary, secondary and university level. There are also specialist advisory groups for the subjects of German, mathematics, French, history, geography, music and art, and for the kindergarten area. The work of these groups is intended to support the teachers and kindergarten teachers and should contribute to improving the quality of schools and teaching in the long term. In addition to the AHS lecturers, each group consists of a representative from the Department of Education of the Ministry of the German-speaking Community and a teacher from the primary or secondary school.
As part of further training, the AHS offers more extensive additional training in the following areas:
- Special Education
- French foreign language didactics
- ethics
- Catholic religion
- Teaching qualification - Pedagogical qualification certificate
- Intensive and emergency care
Research and Development
In addition to its own projects, the Autonomous University carries out international comparative studies. a. the PISA and VERA studies . At the Institute for Democratic Education, which emerged from the GrenzGeschichte DG department in 2019, issues relating to general political education and the development of democratic culture in schools, adult education and youth work are dealt with. The external evaluation of the schools is also organized by the Autonomous University.
Cooperations and mobility
The Autonomous University is a partner school of the Pôle académique Liège-Luxembourg. There are collaborations in the field of primary school education with the University of Education in Schaffhausen and in curative education with the Intercantonal University of Curative Education in Zurich . In the field of teacher training, there is a cooperation agreement with the SCRIPT from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. In the field of health and nursing sciences, there is close cooperation between universities and other educational institutions in Belgium and in the various regions of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. But there are also sporadic collaborations and collaborations at the level of student exchanges with hospitals in Vienna, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Berlin, Bern, Madrid and Marseille.
University students from Belgium and abroad who are studying general pedagogy, primary school teachers, kindergarten teachers or nurses have the opportunity to complete part of their studies at the AHS in Eupen. AHS students can also supplement their studies with a stay in Belgium or abroad. AHS takes part in the Erasmus + and Erasmus Belgica projects .
Infrastructure
The AHS infrastructure includes classrooms and lecture rooms with modern equipment, a sports hall, work rooms for lecturers, a media library, as well as a cafeteria and canteen.
The media library is accessible to all university students as well as teachers and kindergarten teachers in the German-speaking community. It currently comprises 32,000 media and has material on the subject areas of education and health and nursing science. All teachers have access to the "EDMOND" media service of the Rhineland State Media Center, which offers audiovisual media in digital form, using a media library card.