"Professions in the box" - the adult education centre ends its literacy project
Chemnitz Adult Education Centre successfully concludes its one-year project for functional illiterates on 2 February. On this day, the course materials created in the project in the form of card index boxes will be presented in a workshop for professionals.
The card index boxes were developed as learning and counselling material and contain cards on a total of 50 training occupations in plain language. The job descriptions are explained simply and provided with expressive illustrations. "The boxes are a guide that makes it easier to understand complex job profiles and can be used in a very practical way," says Grit Bochmann, head of the adult education centre.
The teaching and learning materials are based on texts from the Federal Employment Agency. These were translated into plain language and checked for comprehensibility by functionally illiterate people and adult learners of German under the guidance of experienced teachers. The work on the card index boxes was supplemented by visits to organisations and companies in Chemnitz. The illiterate participants were able to gain an impression of the training content and employment opportunities of the professions presented and make contacts. For some participants, the project resulted in the opportunity to complete an internship or voluntary service and thus develop career prospects.
With this literacy project, the Chemnitz Adult Education Centre is building on a series of successful previous projects. Since 2009, a film documentary, a handout on the subject of health, a guide to the authorities and language learning and practice materials in easy language have already been produced. The experience gained from these projects will be incorporated into the Adult Education Centre's further work with people with inadequate writing, language and/or reading skills. The adult education centre will continue to carry out innovative projects in the field of literacy in the future and thus contribute to the "Decade for Literacy", which was proclaimed by the Federal Ministry of Education in 2015.