The Lithuanian Free Market Institute’s (LFMI) textbook “Citizen within 31 Hours” has been awarded the European Award for Innovative Education.
“Citizen within 31 Hours fosters young people who are free and responsible for themselves and their communities. The textbook helps the new generation understand that citizenship begins with responsibility for one’s actions and productive activities and that the economy goes hand in hand with moral choices,” said Aneta Vainė, vice president of LFMI.
“Citizen within 31 Hours” is a program to help teachers develop social awareness in an innovative, integrated, and fun way. It has 31 relevant and thought-provoking themes (e.g., poverty, social networks, propaganda, ecology, etc.). It is aimed at teachers and students of moral education, civic education, economics, and other social subjects.
The National Education Agency has recognized the textbook “Citizen in 31 Hours” as an innovation in social and moral education. The textbook, which integrates economics, citizenship, and ethics, was developed with Finnish and Lithuanian researchers and educationalists.
“We take this award as a recognition of our work in the field of education and a call to action. Education makes the biggest difference to a society’s civic and social awareness. The pupils who are studying today in the Gymnasium classrooms are the ones who will soon make the decisions that will determine the well-being of our country. It is important that these young people understand that the state is a project created by all of us jointly and by each of us individually,” said Justina Jablonskaitė, Head of Education Programs at LFMI.
“Citizen within 31 Hours” is not the only textbook developed by LFMI. “Economics in 31 Hours”, published in 2015, is the only textbook in Lithuania to have been named the best learning tool in the world at the prestigious London Book Fair. More than 80% of Lithuanian schoolchildren are already learning from it. This year, the eighth updated edition of the textbook was published. Students in Lithuania, Ukraine, Slovakia, Uganda, Georgia and Greece now use the textbook.
