Comenius GreenUp Seal for the self-study module ‘Literacy and Low Literacy’

Susanne Huber receives benefits from the Jobcentre and would like to find a job as a care assistant. When she cancels the necessary training course at short notice, her adviser invites her to a meeting at the Jobcentre. He suspects that difficulties with reading and writing might be the reason. Should he raise this suspicion openly, or is it better to keep it to himself?

In a 2019 survey of professionals working in various areas of social work, more than a third of all respondents answered a similar question as follows: ‘I noticed it, but did not raise the issue with the person’. This was despite the fact that the majority of respondents were aware of the support services available. A further survey identified the following reasons for not raising the issue: prioritising the concerns of social service users that were deemed more urgent; lack of time; concern about jeopardising the relationship of trust or putting people in an awkward situation if low literacy were to be raised; and a lack of knowledge regarding the content and structure of support services, which would prevent them from providing those affected with appropriate information (surveys conducted as part of the InSole and GruKiTel projects; Fischer, M., Moisa, L., Walpuski, F., 2019).

Staff at job centres are among the professional groups that particularly frequently encounter people with difficulties in reading and writing. If these difficulties go unnoticed during counselling and placement interviews, this can result in those affected failing to respond to correspondence such as invitations and reminders, misunderstanding information, avoiding situations in which they have to read and write, and refusing or dropping out of support programmes and training opportunities. As for jobcentre clients themselves, only a third raise their own difficulties with reading and writing of their own accord. (Kühnel, S. & Elferich, D., 2026, p. 45).

To raise awareness amongst advisers at employment agencies and job centres about how to deal with people with reading and writing difficulties, the award-winning self-study module ‘Literacy and Low Literacy’ has been available since spring 2026 on the ‘BA Lernwelt’ digital training platform.

The aim of the learning module is not to train professionals to become experts in basic education, but rather to ensure that, once they have recognised the difficulties, they can respond appropriately and have the necessary knowledge of regional services and partner organisations to be able to refer clients effectively (Kühnel, S., Elferich, D., 2026, pp. 46–47). This is also reflected in the guiding principle of the self-study programme: ‘Recognise, Address, Help’. The central aim is for those affected to find their way to suitable support services through qualified and needs-based advice and referral.

For this to succeed, cooperation, networking between various stakeholders and a diverse range of provision play a key role. The learning provision thus also makes an important contribution to the success of the funding priority ‘Basic Education Pathways’ (Grundbildungspfade), within the framework of which the ten collaborative projects develop and trial support services, improve access for target groups in partnership with various local stakeholders, and further develop existing structures in a way that is sustainable and sensitive to basic education needs. Within the project networks, depending on the target group and region, key stakeholders include – alongside, amongst others, educational providers, advice centres and businesses – in particular job centres and employment agencies.

The Comenius GreenUp Seal, with which the Gesellschaft für Pädagogik, Information und Medien (GPI, Society for Pedagogy, Information and Media) recognised this learning programme at this year’s Comenius EduMedia Awards, stands for high-quality educational media that effectively combine digital education, social responsibility and sustainable development, and impress with their didactic and design quality.

In the following interview with André Hamann, who played a key role in its development, you can find out more about this award-winning learning programme and its significance for the ‘Basic Education Pathways’ priority area.

You can also find further information about the courses on offer in the following article on www.alphadekade.de.

Fischer, M., Moisa, L., & Walpuski, F. (2019). Wie die Ansprache und Unterstützung von gering literarisierten Erwachsenen gelingt. VHS Grundbildung. https://www.grundbildung.de/alphabetisierung/fachwelt/ansprache-gering-literalisierte-erwachsene.php#cookieUsageNotification

Kühnel, S. & Elferich, D. (2026). Geringe Literalität in der Grundsicherung: Kooperation als Schlüssel. Grundbildungspfade gemeinsam gestalten. ALFA-Forum, 109, Grundbildungspfade, S. 45-47.