City of Vienna secures sustainable financing for Vienna adult education centers

2023-11-29 09:21:30

Consolidation path of the Wiener Volkshochschulen GmbH as a basis for a more modern and efficient financing agreement

Vienna (OTS) – The financing agreement with Wiener Volkshochschulen GmbH was completely revised and redesigned. The aim is to sustainably ensure modern, efficient and customer-oriented operations. After the city secured the operation of the VHS with a rescue package of 5 million euros in December 2022, a consolidation and restructuring process was agreed, culminating in a new financing agreement, which will now be presented to the local council for resolution in December.

Vice Mayor and City Councilor for Education Christoph Wiederkehr emphasizes: “The Vienna adult education centers are an indispensable part of Vienna’s educational landscape and a reliable partner for the city of Vienna. The revised financing agreement with Wiener Volkshochschulen GmbH paves the way to an operation that will be more modern, efficient and customer-oriented.”

More comprehensive Breporting obligations and incentive system

On this basis, the city has now presented a new financing agreement: more comprehensive reporting requirements ensure responsible and transparent handling of funding. An annual reporting requirement to the local council committee will be introduced. The financial contribution will be increased to 32 million euros in order to ensure the sustainable operation of adult education. Contributions will be adjusted to inflation in the future. Funding can be reduced if Vienna adult education centers do not make any efforts to reduce costs and increase efficiency. In recent years, financing has not been adjusted or has been adjusted significantly below inflation or salary increases, which is why continued operation was only possible by releasing reserves and an adjustment to funding became unavoidable in the medium term.

An innovative incentive system for external fundraising is intended to motivate Vienna adult education centers to generate money from sponsors or donations. To support these efforts, the City of Vienna will double such donations to Wiener Volkshochschulen GmbH up to an annual maximum of 500,000 euros. This incentive system is intended to help strengthen the revenue side of the VHS.

“Regionalization” of the VHS locations and structural measures

Efficiency-increasing measures should also be taken on the expenditure side. The basic regionalization that had already been initiated was continued during the analysis process. The VHS locations were combined into four regions (southwest, northwest, northeast, southeast).

By organizationally merging the VHS locations in regions, costs could be saved at the management level and in general administrative tasks. Synergies could also be used when planning the courses. We are also continuing to work on better opening times and an optimized location structure. More employees will retire in the coming years. A total of around 900 employees work for the Vienna adult education centers. It is planned that only 20 percent of the functions will be filled in 2024 and 2025. Savings are therefore made possible by not having to fill natural vacancies.

“Vienna has a wide range of offers in the non-formal education sector that need to be promoted and ensured. In this diverse Viennese educational landscape, the VHS is an important partner for the city of Vienna. Through a large selection of further training opportunities, it makes an important contribution to its educational mission “Contribution to equal opportunities in this city. The offers are affordable and appeal to Viennese of all ages – from children to adults,” says Brigitte Bauer-Sebek, head of the City of Vienna – Education and Youth department.

New minimum number of participants

The minimum number of participants for courses will be increased from 6 to an average of 8 participants in order to increase the contribution margin. Next year there will also be no printed program booklets in the traditional form. To achieve this, new customers should be increasingly addressed via other communication channels.

Task as an educational institution and educational provider

The VHS is taking on an important role in Vienna[RE4] Role as a provider of education. For example, it enables free offers for children, those learning German and people who would like to complete their compulsory school leaving certificate. Wiener Volkshochschulen GmbH is 74.9 percent owned by the Vienna Adult Education Association and 25.1 percent owned by the City of Vienna.