Opening paths instead of drawing boundaries: How continuing education creates the future. Interview with Niko Fostiropoulos

Mr. Fostiropoulos, you can now look back on over thirty years in professional development. What moment was so formative for you personally that it changed your view of education?

There were several important stages, but one particularly formative one was when I joined the management of an education company after studying architecture at the Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT). I saw how many people with great potential had hardly any opportunities simply because of their background, age or life situation. This experience sharpened my focus on the issue of equal opportunities in education. In 2005, I founded alfatraining with the aim of making education accessible to everyone without barriers.

When we look at the labor market today, we are all experiencing an increasing shortage of skilled workers. How do you assess it and what role does further education play in this?
The skills shortage is a challenge in many respects, but also an opportunity. Companies are calling for specialists, but not all potential talents have had the opportunity to qualify accordingly. Further training opens up new avenues: people can acquire new skills, position themselves digitally and thus become part of the solution. If we reach, empower and motivate people, we open up new potential on the labor market.

You mentioned that access to further training is key. What specific opportunities do you see and where are there still hurdles?
I see concrete opportunities in the fact that further training makes it easier to enter or re-enter the labor market, regardless of age, background or life situation. Digitalization makes it possible to learn regardless of location. For me, accessibility means: not exclusion, but genuine inclusion. This applies, for example, to people with disabilities, parents or learners with migration experience. But there are still hurdles: Language, digital equipment, often also fears about the future. It is therefore important that education providers, politicians and society work together to create support systems, for example in the form of financial assistance. Today, this support must also be considered digitally, as artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing the job market and the further education landscape. If AI is widely accessible and people can develop AI skills, this strengthens equal opportunities because learning becomes easier and language barriers can be bridged. It is crucial to understand access as participation, because AI is an elementary, modern basic tool. That's why we need to take people with us and support them so that they can use AI confidently, critically and for their own goals.

The topic of "digital sovereignty" is anchored in your mission statement. How has digital learning developed at alfatraining and what does digital sovereignty mean for learners in concrete terms?
At alfatraining, we recognized very early on that on-site classroom teaching alone is no longer enough. We developed our own video communication cloud, which we have been using in lessons since 2010. For me, digital sovereignty in relation to education means that learners should not only be able to deal with technology passively, but should also be able to use it confidently and without barriers.

Looking to the future: What opportunities do you see for the next ten years in vocational training and what message would you like to pass on to those who are currently considering further training?

1. flexibilization: learning will become increasingly individual, hybrid, adaptable to life situations.
2. competence orientation: it's not just theoretical knowledge that counts, but skills such as digital collaboration, AI competence, problem solving, lifelong learning.
3. inclusion and diversity: continuing education will become an even stronger driver of equal opportunities.

Further education is not a privilege, but a path. If people are open to learning new things, they can grow step by step.

Finally, looking back on your last 30 years, what would you say to the young Niko Fostiropoulos and what motivates you every day?
I would say to the young Niko: "Stay curious, stay radical in your conviction that education is for everyone." And: "Don't be afraid of digital upheavals; they bring opportunities."

Change is rarely comfortable, but it is often precisely the moment when something new becomes possible. Unexpected opportunities can arise if you look to the future with an open and optimistic mind and at the same time critically examine what really makes sense and is sustainable.

What motivates me today? Seeing people grow. To see someone who may have doubted at first suddenly say: "I can do this." The commitment of the learners, their willingness to open up to new topics, digital tools and new job profiles. That inspires me every day.

Interview partner: Niko Fostiropoulos

Interview conducted and edited by: Group press office