Greater visibility for basic education: Dialogue forum provides important impetus

The third dialogue forum took place on 22 April 2026 as part of Basic Education Pathways. The online event, organised by LRNK and DIE and moderated by Theresa Quadflieg (LRNK), was attended by around 40 staff members from the collaborative projects and network partners.

The dialogue forum provided a platform for discussing the role that local education reporting plays in embedding basic education within the system, and how the visibility of basic education within local education management can be enhanced. Following an introduction by Carolin Seelmann, Dr. Selin Arusoglu und Julia Klausing (involas Institut für berufliche Bildung, Arbeitsmarkt- und Sozialpolitik GmbH), three perspectives provided key insights for the subsequent discussion with the participants:

• Research: Hannah Edler (DIE) provided insights into approaches to local education monitoring.
• Project practice: Carolin Seelmann und Dr. Selin Arusoglu (involas) reported on the collaborative project Netzwege.
• Local practice: Dr. Simone Mazari (Stadt Offenbach) presented issues and challenges related to local education reporting.

The three presentations emphasised the importance of expanding and standardising the database, as well as the need for regular monitoring, in order to tailor services to the needs of target groups and derive concrete recommendations for local authorities. Furthermore, the presentations provided valuable insights into how data on basic education can be better utilised in future using existing tools. In this context, the linking of quantitative and qualitative data was highlighted as particularly relevant and suggested as an important approach, as it enables needs-based management, contributes to the development of services tailored to target groups, and creates a sound basis for argumentation vis-à-vis politicians and administrators.

Subsequent discussions with participants revealed that integrating basic education into local education reporting and management is seen as key to raising the profile of the issue in local and education policy discussions. However, it was also noted that further structural and political measures are needed to embed the issue more broadly within local and education policy contexts.

The dialogue forum also provided an opportunity to discuss and clarify outstanding issues, as many of the participants had had little prior exposure to the topic. In particular, the applicability of the ideas to their own practice emerged as a key concern. At the same time, various challenges were raised, such as the limited time available for implementation within the context of project work.

Finally, the participants exchanged views on further possible steps to raise the profile of basic education in their own local communities. Questions arising from this include, for example: How can a sensitive, accessible approach be established with relevant stakeholders such as education offices, specialist agencies or other local authority bodies? How narrowly or broadly should the definition of ‘basic education’ be interpreted for educational reporting and monitoring?

To explore these and other issues in greater depth, the dialogue forum proposed the establishment of a working group on the topic of ‘Basic education in local education management’. If you are interested in participating and/or keeping up to date with further developments, please feel free to register via the Forms survey without obligation.

The topic will also be explored further at the upcoming 2026 Federal Conference on Local Education Management on 16 and 17 June. The fishbowl session entitled ‘Greater educational equity through local and sustainably embedded basic education‘ (‘Mehr Bildungsgerechtigkeit durch kommunale und nachhaltig verankerte Grundbildung‘) provides a forum for joint discussion with Dr. Sabine Schwarz (Kompetenzzentrum GrundbildungsPFADE), Nora Schrimpf (Management of Arbeit und Leben Hessen, Coordination of NetzWege: Grundbildung kommunal neu denken) and Dr. Judith Lechner (Deputy Head of the Volkshochschule Hanau and Head of the Grundbildungszentrum Hanau).

Further insights can be found in the documentation of the dialogue forum, which includes not only the key outcomes of the discussions but also the presentations from the keynote speeches.