Competence Center for Economic Education

 

Professor Reinhold Würth is committed to promoting financial literacy among young people. The entrepreneur set up the Competence Center for Economic Education in 2005 under the umbrella of the Würth Foundation. The Competence Center for Economic Education aims to improve knowledge of economic processes and entrepreneurial spirit among students and teachers alike and to pique the participants’ interest in economic issues. The Competence Center for Economic Education cooperates closely with the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports of Baden-Württemberg to help schools raise these issues in class. The main activities of the Competence Center for Economic Education include the Würth Education Prize, a prize awarded to schools in Baden-Württemberg for outstanding projects in the field of economics, a company placement program and the secondary technical school prize, a prize awarded at the state level for outstanding achievements, the model project “trades workshop” and a Management Symposium that addresses interesting topical issues for representatives from the worlds of school and business. Individual subsidiaries are also taking advantage of the potential of such cooperation between schools and industry. Reisser Schraubentechnik has been collaborating with Georg Fahrbach Comprehensive School in Ingelfingen since 2018. With the help of the company, the school is better able to provide its students with practical insights into the world of work and the real demands of working life. Companies have the opportunity to get young people excited about certain training occupations and to position themselves as attractive employers.

“Economic Competencies of Young People in Baden-Württemberg”—this is the title of the study published in 2018 on the economic knowledge of Baden-Württemberg schoolchildren. The study, conducted under the direction of Prof. Dr. Günther Seeber from the University of Koblenz-Landau and supported by MTO Psychologische Forschung und Beratung GmbH Tübingen, was sponsored by the Würth Foundation. In 2016, a total of 2,333 students in grades 9 and 10 at technical secondary schools and secondary schools as well as in grade 11 of high school were interviewed for the study in order to assess the economic competence of young people and their attitudes towards economic issues and to link them to one another. The competence measured by the 2016 study can be considered the prelude to a series of further studies to accompany the introduction of the subject of economy, vocational and higher education orientation. The long-term study will be completed in 2021.