A closer look at Poland’s tax education activities
Poland is making great strides in building a tax culture among young people.
Poland’s Ministry of Finance is promoting and using the TAXEDU digital platform, a European Union pilot project with the aim of educating young European citizens about tax and how it affects their lives, through their webpage and educational initiatives.
Active in finance programme - Finansoaktywni
Finansoaktywni (Active in finance) is an educational programme of the Ministry of Finance for primary school students and teachers.
The educational mission of this programme changes every year: 2015 - Taxes, 2016 - Budget, 2017 - Fair payment of taxes, 2018 - Budget. We understand expenses, 2019 - We understand taxes and in 2020 - We plan budget. This year’s mission focuses on budgetary issues and targets students in the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade of primary school.
Students learn about taxes, the different types of budgets and the link between taxes and public expenses. They also gain an awareness of the benefits of paying taxes.
The programme’s lesson plan was developed in cooperation with experienced methodologists and those responsible for creating a new core curriculum on entrepreneurship. In 2019, TAXEDU’s microlearning clip "What is tax" was used in the programme. In the same year, it was reported that the programme reached 30 206 students from 1 743 classes.
Based on a popular formula of learning through play, the programme also has a competition in which teams of up to three students, based on their knowledge of the educational materials, take part in. Pupils have to create a video and prepare an application for a participation budget. Only ten winning teams win prizes and a trip to Warsaw. There is an official award ceremony which takes place at the Ministry of Finance.
Lessons based on the set of educational materials
Free educational kits, for teachers, come with the programme and include lesson plans, educational posters, as well as animated film, multimedia presentation and other auxiliary materials.
The kits are sent by post to teachers who sign up for the programme via the website. Materials can also be downloaded in electronic form. Once ordered by a teacher, the materials can be reused in other classes.
As an immediate response to the lockdown due to COVID-19, the financial education programme, Finansoaktywni, was adjusted so that lessons could be delivered online. Instructions, such as how to use the existing material when conducting a lesson through Zoom or MS Teams, were prepared for teachers. Information was also prepared for students to help them in situations like what to do if a lesson cannot go ahead online. This gave students and parents the necessary support to go through the materials themselves.
Other activities
As part of Global Money Week 2019, 100 bookmarks with information about the TAXEDU platform was distributed to teachers.
Additionally, the Ministry of Finance has been adding information about the TAXEDU platform to their Database of educational materials and projects.
The online database supports financial education in schools by offering materials and projects to facilitate the transfer and acquisition of knowledge in this area. The materials are submitted by various entities dealing with financial education including public institutions, industry associations and foundations. Information from the database can be used both in school education and in complementary educational projects carried out by entities and organisations other than schools, e.g. libraries, community centres, community centres, scout teams, interest groups, etc.
A leaflet about the TAXEDU platform was also included in participant packages for the Congress of Financial Education and Entrepreneurship in March 2019, in Warsaw. This event is the most important forum in Poland to discuss, exchange experiences and establish cooperation between all key entities responsible for the implementation of tasks resulting from economic education among various social groups.
Further to this, 100 leaflets on the TAXEDU platform were handed out to participates and teachers at the 16th International Scientific Conference "The role of Entrepreneurship Education in the Socio-Economic and Cultural Development" and 12th Convention of Entrepreneurship Teachers in October 2019, in Kraków. Leaflets with information about TAXEDU were also inserted into the newspaper "Active School”. About 6 000 copies were circulated thanks to the cooperation of the Warsaw Institute of Banking.
The Finance Ministry has also been using educational materials from the TAXEDU platform for school trips. Younger visitors, for example, watch microlearning clips featuring 2QT and talk about the issues raised in these clips.
What’s to come?
In 2020, communication activities aimed at promoting the TAXEDU platform include inserting bookmarks with information about TAXEDU to the 530 educational kits for teachers involved in the Finansoaktywni programme.
Also, the distribution of 100 bookmarks with information about the TAXEDU portal was planned for Global Money Week 2020. Unfortunately, the programme was cancelled due to the lockdown.
Furthermore, school trips will include educational material from the platform and there are also plans to distribute the board game “Mobility era”.
Poland is helping to spread awareness about the importance of taxes.