270. The adult education centre (Volkshochschule) in Germany is an institution …

Answer options

1. for religious instruction.
2. only for adolescents.
3. for continuing education.
4. only for retirees.

Explanation

Volkshochschulen emerged from the workers’ and popular education movements and were institutionalized during the Weimar Republic. Today they are typically municipal institutions or publicly funded providers of general and vocational continuing education; their legal basis lies in Länder continuing-education statutes and, constitutionally, in the Länder’s cultural sovereignty and municipal self-government (Arts. 30, 70, 28(2) Basic Law). They are non-denominational, low-threshold, and open to adults of all ages, offering, inter alia, integration and literacy courses. In this way they advance civic education and social participation consistent with the free democratic basic order and the freedoms guaranteed by Art. 5 of the Basic Law.