Adult education initiative
The adult education initiative is a cooperation between the federal states and the federal government that has existed in Austria since 2012 to promote basic educational qualifications in adult education . It pursues the goal of enabling young people and adults to acquire basic skills and educational qualifications free of charge even after the school-based training phase has ended, and ensures uniform quality standards for the relevant educational offers.
Basics
The adult education initiative supports educationally disadvantaged people with the two program areas of basic education and compulsory schooling, which are important for educational policy. It provides funding for the implementation of corresponding educational offers and guarantees a high quality standard for these program areas through the creation of qualitative framework guidelines that are valid throughout Austria. The learners benefit from free educational offers as well as high-quality, adult-friendly and needs-oriented offers from professional educational institutions. The education providers are guaranteed a safeguarding of basic offer areas, qualitative framework guidelines for target group-specific educational offers and the same framework conditions in all federal states. The task of the adult education initiative, which is jointly supported by the federal states and the federal government, is to ensure that everyone has an adequate educational foundation.
Goal setting
The adult education initiative enables young people from the age of 15 and adults to acquire the basic educational qualifications and skills free of charge that are an important prerequisite for participating in social, cultural, technological and economic developments. Ultimately, the aim is to enable everyone to participate in the knowledge society with equal opportunities and to enable each individual to actively help shape the change processes in their own living environment.
In order to achieve the desired goals, the following measures are pursued:
- Securing access to further training in the program areas of basic education and compulsory schooling
- Creation of a comprehensive and regionally balanced educational offer
- Guarantee of high quality educational offers tailored to the needs of the target groups
- Orientation of the educational offers on permeability, connectivity and further perspectives of the participants
- Consistent focus on equality
Program management
The program management of the Adult Education Initiative provides for procedures and decision-making processes to be structured in a spirit of partnership and transparency for all involved. Uniform quality standards are guaranteed nationwide through central accreditation of the educational offers. In accordance with the agreement between the federal government and the federal states on the adult education initiative, the strategic control and operational handling of all processes are ensured by the adult education initiative bodies, which consist of a steering group, an accreditation group, a monitoring advisory board and an office. The office deals with the handling of proceedings and is set up and financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Women .