Since a few days, the students go in North Rhine-Westphalia in the class. The start of School this year due to mask duty, and distance, unnoticed rules almost – a significant Change of the curriculum with the school year 2020/21 economy has become a compulsory subject at all secondary schools in NRW ends. Thus, NRW follows the other länder, such as Baden-Württemberg, which took this step in 2017.
A good understanding of economic relationships is an essential prerequisite for active participation in modern society. To be for “life” being prepared means also to be able to meet long-term financial decisions, for example, for retirement, to compete in the labour market, in the later professional economic decisions and operational meetings to understand as an informed citizen, the economic policy decisions of the government, and influence as voters. The economic relationships are, for example, when it comes to the complex equilibrium phenomena. A certain understanding of macro-Economics and micro-Economics is also necessary to understand that in a crisis like the present a greater debt of the state makes sense for private households, but may be more difficult.
financial education will not succeed once measured
The Association for social policy (VfS), the Association of economic researchers in the German-speaking countries, had engaged in a working group on “Economics and education” of how to bridge the gap between the economic Sciences and the school better. As a result of the VfS-baccalaureate award has been launched. The club students that have achieved in the field of economic Sciences, an outstanding performance. Since 2018, the prize has been awarded to more than 500 Times. And yet is not positioned in the VfS, whether he should recommend Economics as a school subject. It would be in the digital age, not better, computer science or engineering Sciences to develop? Or to use more time for the basic subjects of mathematics, science, or languages? In order to find answers to such questions, we need meaningful data on the successes of the school. It is still not available. The Scientific Advisory Board of the German Federal Ministry for economic Affairs had warned the States a few years ago, to “to open a regular Review of the performance of your school system.” Germany is not involved, for example, on the Pisa-Test for financial education (financial literacy). Here, the Federal diversity would provide the opportunity to learn from each other. The introduction of the subject economy for the new school year in NRW was not without controversy. Perhaps, however, this has a Chance, at least, it should be in the interest of the Parties that this innovation will also be evaluated appropriately.
