XIII German Adult Education Conference

The 13th German Adult Education Conference was held on 12th and 13th May, 2011 in Berlin, Germany to discuss important social issues on the new position “Adult Education institutes – education as public responsibility.” The conference brought together nearly 1400 practitioners of adult education from Germany and another 100 from around the world.

Six parallel forums were held to give space to well known personalities from the field of education, science, politics and business to discuss how training, both in Germany and around the world, can respond to the challenges ahead and in finding solutions to the problems.

Discussions of the six forums revolved round the following:

First Forum:Education as a key to the integration of people, cultures and social environments.

Second Forum:Citizen Participation as a source of strength for a vibrant democracy.

Third Forum: Education Gap and Age Trap? Lifelong Learning in the digital world.

Fourth Forum: Our recipe against the shortage of expert staff: General education and job training

Fifth Forum: After Kyoto and Cancun: How do we change our lifestyles?

Sixth Forum: Local Responsibility for Community Education

The Plenary Session on Education without Borders looked at two main lectures, one,Literacy and Basic Skills Development and second, Education for All – The Global Perspectives presented by Dr. Rajesh Tandon.

To view the speeches and documentations of the panel discussions as well as photos and videos of the Conference log onto http://www.volkshochschultag.de/en/documentation/.

To view Dr. Rajesh Tandon’s lecture, log onto http://www.volkshochschultag.de /fileadmin/user_upload/documents/Rajesh_Tandon.pdf

To view Dr. Rajesh Tandon’s reflection on the XIII German Adult Education Conference,click here