Our Values
Education is a commons. abschluss.jetzt makes high-quality IT exam preparation accessible regardless of wallet, background or prior education — and documents openly what it achieves.
Note: detailed value documents in the repository are in German. This page summarises them.
Seven Core Values
Four operational values from our quality policy plus three extended attitudes that shape our non-profit stance.
Accessibility
Remote-first, free of charge, language-sensitive, low-barrier
Practical Focus
Exam-oriented, with real IHK tasks and projects
Community
Peer learning, mentoring, alumni network
Quality
AZAV standard, measurable results, continuous improvement
Freedom
Open source, Creative Commons, no lock-ins — free as in freedom
Solidarity
Scholarships, peer support, promoting disadvantaged groups
Sustainability
Ecological, economic, social — measurable in the impact report
Five Pillars of Our Stance
Structured along the ESG framework (Environmental, Social, Governance) plus our digital and educational convictions. Each pillar has a dedicated document in the repository.
Social Responsibility
Equal opportunity through free participation, scholarships, and language sensitivity. Inclusion for career changers, foreign professionals, retraining participants, apprentices, and people with disabilities. Reciprocity rather than charity: alumni mentoring as a solidarity principle.
Ecological Responsibility
Remote-first instead of commuting. Refurbished hardware instead of new purchases (20–40 t of CO2 saved per 100 devices). Renewable energy requirement for hosting partners. Open source instead of proprietary software overhead. Paperless by design. Transparency over precision in the CO2 balance — published annually in the impact report.
Digital Sovereignty
GDPR-compliant from day one. All data on German servers, no US clouds. Self-hosted AI instead of sending participant data to OpenAI, Google, and others. Keycloak SSO with clear roles. Data minimisation. No tracking-cookie banner because we don't track.
Free Education
"Think free as in free speech, not as in free beer." Our learning materials are released under Creative Commons CC BY-SA — not just free of cost but freely modifiable and redistributable. Forks are welcome, re-use by other educational providers is actively encouraged. We draw a clear line against "free" courses with vendor lock-in.
Governance & Ethics
Non-profit limited liability company (in founding) — no profit distribution, legally binding. Transparent finances, annual impact report. Conflict-of-interest rules: sponsoring does not influence the curriculum, no referral fees. Exclusion of weapons, gambling, fossil fuels, tobacco, corruption. Complaint procedure with ombudsperson.
Impact & Numbers
We measure what we do — and publish the numbers honestly, even when they are still estimates in the build-up year.
Sponsoring & CSR Offers
Companies and organisations that support us receive a traceable CSR/ESG record with hard numbers (SROI, SDG share, CO2). Five tiers, all indicative figures, no secret deals. Sponsoring does not influence the curriculum, no exclusive referral rights, clearly documented excluded industries.
Accountability
All documents are public and version-controlled in Git. Every change is traceable.
Become part of this
Values become real through action. Support us with a donation, a partnership, your time as a mentor, or as a referrer for potential participants.