The Origination and Organization of Adult Education Centres

Abstract

In this article, the author provides a survey of the origination and development of the educational/training centres which developed as special forms of andragogical institutions within companies. She also describes the rea­ son for their emergence, and establishes why they were widespread throughout Slovenia. Hence, she gives particular prominence to the educational aims of the centres. This leads to the conclusion that the centres were concerned not merely with professional retraining in the narrower sense, but also with initiatory training and the introduction of new employees, the education of newly-needed experts, general education, further training, and - last but not least - consolidation of the political situation at the time (for it should not be forgotten that, until the early 90s, all companies were state-owned). The article also points to the causes for the decline of the education centres following the transition to a market economy, and offers an evaluation of the present situation, primarily from the point of view of the market economy and - in relation to this - the newly emerging aims of the educational centres.