Adult education in the German Democratic Republic

Gotffried Schneider

Adul t educat ion in the D e m o c r a t i c Republic

G e r m a n

Constant further training, lifelong study, per- manent education. These and similar demands are today encountered in many countries and many languages. They are not worn-ont clich6s but rather an urgent request of our times. Higher qualifications, new knowledge, abilities and skills are necessary to deal with problems which have emerged in all spheres of social life. This problem is either identical or similar in many countries; the solution, however, is very differentiated and socially determined.

Adult education in the German Democratic Republic is based on the central position of man in socialist society, the further development of the characteristic traits, talents, abilities and moral qualities of man.

In this context it is of great importance to increase the responsibility and active participation of the people in running and planning the State and in all social processes. Scientific and technical progress is closely linked with the training, education and development of the people. In the German Democratic Republic the role of man is increasingly becoming the key problem of the scientific and technical revohition. The goal of adult education then, is

Gottfried Schneider (German Democratic Republic). Deputy Director of the Central Institute of Vocational Training of the German Democratic Republic and lec- turer at the Technical University of Dresden.

the development of universally educated socialist personalkies.

Accordingly, the aim and the content of adult education are marked by the following essential aspects:

high Socialist all-round education based on well- founded Marxist-Leninist knowledge, education in modern mathematics and natural sciences and languages;

modern scientific vocational and technical training; constant development and consolidation of Socialist

consciousness. 1

Consequemly, adult education in the German Democratic Republic is in line with the goals set by Unesco at the Third World Conference on Adult Education (Tokyo, 1972). The resolution adopted there states:

Adult education is an instrument designed for the formation of consciousness, for changes and social- ization . . . . It is an instrument designed to develop man as a whole. It thus covers both work and leisure-time, as well as his participation in political life, in family life and in cultural activities. It contributes to perfecting man's physical, moral and intellectual qualities.

That is why any qualification measure in the framework of adult education is always centred

I. See 'Grundsiitze fiir die Aus- trod Weiterbildung der Werkt~itigen', Aus der Thtigkeit der Volkskammer und ihrer Auschiisse, No. I9, I97O, p. 58.

263

Prospects, Vol. VII , No. 2, I977

Gottfried Schneider

on man as a whole. The unity of general and special education, of vocational-technical and ideological education, and the interaction of theory and practice are, therefore, basic principles of any measure of qualification.

Adul t education as part of the educational system

Adult education is an integral part of the educational system in the German Demo- cratic Republic. In this respect it is also fully in line with the thesis advanced at the Sec- ond World Conference on Adult Education in Montreal (r96o), 'that adult education should be considered an integral part of the overall system of education and training' (Fig. r).

Under the system of adult education every- body who already pursues his profession, every working person is given the opportunity to improve his knowledge and reach a higher degree of qualification; be it on the job or in his spare time.

The opportunity for adult education in the German Democratic Republic exists in the following forms (see Fig. 2): Training and further training of semi-skilled

workers, skilled workers, leaders of working groups, and foremen 1 in the educational facilities of factories, of agricultural production co-operatives, or groups of co-operating farms.

Consolidation and extension of general education in evening classes and in clubs and cultural centres.

Qualification for university-level or technical study of the best skilled workers, co-operative farmers, leaders of working groups, and foremen; the educational facilities of plants co- operate closely with evening schools, vocational schools, universities and technical schools in this area.

Propagation and popularization of the latest findings in social, natural and technological sciences, above all through social organiz-

264

ations (e.g. URANIA, Chamber of Tech- nology, scientific associations).

Further education of graduates from technical schools and universities and of subordinate managerial staff in the educational facilities of factories, in industrial branch academies, technical schools, universities and schools of social organizations.

Further education of managers in institutes for socialist management of the economy, in party and trade-union schools.

Qualification of teachers and other personnel working in the field of adult education, in enterprise and industrial educational facilities, technical schools, colleges and universities.

The citizens of the German Democratic Re- public make ample use of these possibilities. Some 9o per cent of all university and college graduates, some 88 per cent of all technical school graduates, about 75 per cent of the foremen and 68 per cent of skilled workers professionally active, acquired their training after I946 in the German Democratic Republic.

Adult education has a great share in the successes of the integrated socialist educational system. The following examples testify to this: In 1974 about 8oo,ooo working people employed

in industry, including the building industry, attended qualification courses.

From I97 o and I974 some 6o,ooo adults employed in the sphere of trade acquired a skilled worker's certificate.

In the same period more than Ioo,ooo citizens prepared in evening classes for technical school or university studies; 45o,ooo grown- ups acquired a tenth-form or twelfth-form education by attending evening schools, and about Iio,ooo enrolled in foreign language courses; a total of more than 1.5 million citizens attended evening classes.

In I974 more than 8 million people listened to over 2oo,ooo lectures organized by the URANIA society.

z. A general supervisor with special training.

Adult education in the German Democratic Republic

Adult qualification in State and social educational establishments

Factory workers" academies Village academies Scientific associations (e.g. URANIA and Chamber of Technology) Industrial branch academy Institutes for socialist management of the economy Evening classes Academy for further training Television academy Parents" academy Women's academy Parties and social organizations

Vocationai training (3 years)

§

t Vocational training (2 years in general)

. . . . -~ University, college, engineering

�9 college

! ! Technical or

engineering school

$ (Direct attendance or correspondence course)

! !

1 I I

I

( Direct attendance o r

correspondence course)

�9 i=

Vocational training with Abitur ~ Extended (3 years) secondary school (Abitur)

lO-class general polytechnical secondary school

e -

-5 0 t - o=

"5 O3

>-<

13 19

12 18

~11 17

~ 10 16

9 15

-o 8 14 c - . . ,

1 13

6 12 . . ~ . .

=o 5 11

1",3 4 10

~- 3 9 !

2 8

1 7

Pre-school training ,,]h Possibilities o f attending schools �9 of further education

Kindergarten Entry into vocational life

Entry from vocational life into ~" further training Crt~che

1. University entrance qualification

FzG. I. Structure of the integrated socialist educational system in the German Democratic Republic.

6

5

4

3

2

1

Gottfried Schneider

~D

8

"E ~.~ ~

266

~ 0 ~

~ ~ ' -

~ ~ ' ~

. ~ _ ~

F -

t.-

-6 ~ - o ~ e~

o

0 0"]

B 0 o o'~

~- ~.~ ~ 0 ~ ~ ~ ~,.~ " ~-

\ ~ ~.~m~ /

~D e-"

= N.---

[ ~ "~ o ~ ~

. ~ _ ~ =.- & g ~ 0

e- . m e-

> o

r e- "el

~ . ~ ~

~, .~-

~ ~ ~-~ ~ ~

] E 0"~ t.,,. c0 'E

- ~ ~

~ o ~ ~

t~

0

0

8

o

g

0

o~

~L


s

0

.E

180

160

140

120

1 O0

80

60

40

20

,... ~176176176176 """

,,�9149149 86,092

125,778 "~"'*,...%.

'"""'~

.f.,....,.._ 31,727

;4U 1964

71,039

..... ,, .,, ,,...'~ " ' " ' " ' " " ' " ' " ' " '" '"""

1'08,896

/

64,275

~288

~ .,'*"

. , " " ~ ..."

"136,866

72,202

1960 1967 1971 1974

71,446

76,100

44,300

............................................... Apprentice education

Adult education

Female proportion

Fit. 3. The role of socialist adult education in increasing the number of qualified workers.

The share of skilled workers in agriculture increased from 9.z per cent in 196o to 54-3 per cent in 1971 and was about 75 per cent by 1975. Share of socialist adult education in the growth of the number of skilled workers.

The system does not set any age limit: anyone can benefit according to his own interests and in a way which benefits him and society most.

Thus, many people over 40 years of age attend evening classes where they can improve their general knowledge. An example is provided by the nationally owned VEB IFA-Getriebewerk Brandenburg: 200 out of 3oo working people who attended courses at the factory academy in 1972 were between 25 and 4o years old and thirty-one were older than 4o.

At present every fourth worker participates

:z67

Gottfried Schneider

in a planned and systematic qualification course in compliance with the present and future needs of his profession and of society as a whole ' . . . to develop his abilities to the full and to unfold his t a len t s . . . , in free decision, for the welfare of society. . . ,1 as the Constitution of the German Democratic Republic says.

The State and scientif ic character of adult education

State character and scientific character of education have always been demanded by the pro- letariat and all progressive forces. Today they are pillars of the whole educational system in the German Democratic Republic, adult education included.

Legal documents, such as the 'Constitution of the German Democratic Republic', the 'Law on the Integrated Socialist Educational System', and the 'Resolution of the People's Chamber on the Principles for the Training and Further Training of the Working People' place adult education on a State and scientific basis, com- prising both fundamental and minor questions.

The State character of education is, among other things, manifest in the fact that all educational measures leading to an intermediate or final examination irrespective of the level of qualification, are carried out on the basis of uniform and nation-wide compulsory training and study programmes. Consequently, all qualifications acquired in the different facilities, have a uniform standard and are recognized by all institutions for further training. This implies that working people can pass on to the next higher level and, if necessary, change from one institution to another during a course. Edu- cational institutions and centres at factories and co-operatives, in the communal sector, in health establishments and elsewhere work according to uniform principles and nation-wide compulsory curricula. They are instructed by the competent State organs and are controlled by

268

them. The State character of education ensures that adult education too is oriented towards the development of the whole personality. We are firmly opposed to one-sided development of skills, primarily of manual ones, for a narrowly restricted activity, without the simultaneous development of intellectual capacities, without well-founded basic knowledge and a general education.

Public spending on education which nearly doubled between I962 and 1973 does not reflect, however, the overall expenditure in this field, especially in the sphere of adult education. Practical vocational training of apprentices and the major part of the expenditure on qualification measures organized by factory workers' academies are covered by factory funds. As a rule, the industrial enterprises also bear the costs involved in the participation in seminars and courses and in the preparation of examination papers, and the examination fees. Many enterprises have made a practice of granting money for the purchase of the relevant technical lkerature. Industrial enterprises pay in any case all fees for special courses, meetings and conferences.

The scientific character of adult education is ensured above all by the precise content and goal of further training. In order to solve these problems, experts from the relevant disciplines, experienced workers, educators and represen- tatives of the social organizations, especially of the trade unions participate.

Teachers for adult education are highly qualified. All educational facilities, be it enterprise academy, evening school or village academy, are staffed with full-time teachers thoroughly trained in social sciences, in their own field and in pedagogy. Most of them have a university degree. Scientists, engineers and managers are invited to give lectures on special subjects on

I. CThe Constitution of the Gel~nan Democratic Republic'~ p. I9, of 6 April z968, published by Staatsverlag der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik.


a part-time basis: their high qualifications and their ample experiences are another guarantee of the scientific character of adult education.

Adult education and vocational qualifications

Vocational qualification, which is always linked up with an increase in gerenal education, is an essential part of adult education in the German Democratic Republic. This cannot and must not be otherwise if the goals set by the Third World Conference on Aduk Education in Tokyo for making adult education 'an instrument for preparation for work in production and for participation in running the enterprise' are to be fulfilled.

This is one of the reasons why the directors of plants and industrial enterprises carry the responsibility for the qualification of the working people of the enterprise concerned. The required present and the future educational standards of the workers figure in the planning activities of the enterprise as much as do the economic, technical or technological indices. Each conception of rationalization has educational consequences. Vocational qualification is thus an essential element of any plan, and an important basis for the continued development and social security of the working people until retirement. The executive committees of the trade unions watch over the fulfilment of plan targets.

The aim of measures of qualification is above all to train semi-skilled workers to be skilled ones, and to enable people to advance from narrowly profiled jobs to modern vocations. In addition great attention is given to the further training of workers, skilled workers, work-team leaders and foremen. The goals and content of it are derived from the social, scientifico- technical development and from the development of the enterprise itself.

A special area in further vocational qualifi-

cation is the training of foremen (see Table I ) .

After a lengthy period of testing this kind of training has been carried out since 1973 along the following lines: Basic training (uniform for all specializations of

foremen). The development of foremen as leaders of

socialist collectives, and includes education in Marxism-Leninism, the fundamentals of pedagogics and psychology, the science of labour and industrial economics.

Technical training (differentiated in accordance with the different types of specialization which are partly overlapping).

Specialization (practical work for future foremen in line with the requirements of the special sector of production).

All the training programmes are carried out by factory workers' academies, village or co- operation academies. This is done in the form of theoretical lessons in modem instruction rooms by classes or groups, in the form of practical training at the places of work, in teaching laboratories or at simulation or training apparatus. In addition there is the form of individual instructions by lecturers or sponsors during and outside the process of work. Private studies on the basis of literary and audio-visual teaching aids, consultations and individual discussions with teachers, enterprise managers and work- mates are other forms of adult education.

Equality of women and adult education

In the German Democratic Republic over 84 per cent of all women and girls of working age carry on a trade, a proportion far above that in many other countries (see Fig. 4).

On the basis of directives on the promotion of women, specific regulations have been laid

I. See: 'Verordmmg fiber die Aus- mad Weiterbilding der Meister; Law Gazette I~ lifo. 33-I73, p. 342-4.

269

Gottfried Schneider

FIG. 4- Share o f female workers in indus t ry .

down in the different spheres of social life, including adult education. The 'Order on the promotion of fully employed women to be skilled workers in production '~ lays down among other things: Prior to training, enterprises conclude agree-

ments on qualification with the women concerned, which contain: aim and duration of training, employment of a mentor, hours of release from work, a secured conclusion of training (for example in cases of illness, illness of a child, pregnancy), personal talks with managers.

The training has to be carried out in a rational way taking into account the qualifications already acquired, experiences in work, in pro- fessional and personal life as well as the profession exercised.

The directors of the enterprises have to provide women with jobs in accordance with their qualification.

270

Women with one or more children will be released from work for one day a week to be able to take part in theoretical classes; women with three or more children can be released from work for two days.

Women have to be paid a compensation equal to their average wages.

All these stipulations covers above all social and socio-economic aspects. But they are important pre-conditions for the qualification of fully employed female production workers.

With regard to the goals and the content of qualification there are, however, no differences between men and women.

The organization of adult education takes into account special burdens to which women are exposed--family and children, shift-work, etc. For this reason, special classes have been set up in which only women are taught, in order to

x. See Law Gazette II~ ~qo. 74-1972, p. 86o-i .


TABLE I. Training of foremen (up to a maximum of two years)

Duration Subject Comment

Specialization 2-3 months

Technical training 5-6 months (at least

480 hours)

Basic training io months (or 851 hours)

Specialization of foremen in practical courses (to be carried out, as a rules in the future sector of employment); preparation for running a foreman's section

Technology Machine apparatus and instrument engineering Material economy Testing, measuring and control techniques Other subjects in line with special fields Also includes health, labour and fire protection and

civil defence

Socialist management of the economy (237 hours) Socialist science of labour (12o hours) Pedagogical and psychological foundations of socialist

managerial activities (142 hours) Fundamentals of Marxist-Leninist philosophy

(74 hours) Fundamentals of political economy (126 hours) Scientific communism and lessons of the struggle of

the German and international working-class movement (52 hours)

Individually and object-oriented employment

Different for 115 specializations

For all specializations the same

adapt the organization of fur ther training to t imes of special stress for women. Many enterprises invite the best teachers, and make available modern instructional mater ial for these classes.

In this way adult education contributes to finally overcoming the historically condit ioned, and in some sectors still visible, backwardness of women in the field of qualification.

271

Documents

Adult education in the German Democratic Republic