The adult education centers in the Reutlingen, Tübingen, Neckar-Alb region are under financial pressure. Due to the corona pandemic, they are missing an average of around 30 percent of their annual sales compared to the previous year, said the chairman of the regional assembly Dr. Ulrich Bausch, also managing director of Reutlinger VHS, with. “We are pleased that we were not closed in the current November lockdown and that the relevance of our facilities is recognized. Nevertheless, our houses are empty, ”explains Bausch. “Many participants in VHS courses take the rules seriously and behave responsibly. But that also means that they drastically reduce all contacts. ”Adult education centers thrive on people meeting and learning together, says Bausch. “Therefore, the contact restrictions that are sensible and necessary hit us hard.” The distance requirement has meant that there are only half as many participants in each classroom.
No rescue packages for VHS
Online courses cannot replace face-to-face teaching. Fast internet is still not a matter of course, especially in rural areas.
The independent adult education centers are particularly worried. While two thirds of all adult education centers in Baden-Württemberg are run by the direct municipal sponsorship, one third are organized as a registered association or GmbH. “Precisely because we were not closed, we now also have no access to the federal rescue packages,” says Bausch. His appeal to the federal government to provide financial aid to adult education centers as well sounds dramatic: “If we can no longer pay our lecturers’ fees and the salaries of our employees in the near future, it would be a disaster.”
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