Lecture for Teachers on the Possibilities of Using the TaxEdu Platform in Teaching

For a decade, the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia has been striving to raise awareness among young people in Slovenia about the importance of taxes for the social welfare of all citizens by implementing the project "Tax Literacy for Youth" in primary and secondary schools as well as universities. This time, it responded to an invitation from the Institute of Education of the Republic of Slovenia and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Slovenia, which organized a special training for teachers on strengthening financial literacy, including knowledge of taxes. In collaboration with the Bank of Slovenia, a two-day seminar for teachers was held on March 18 and April 3, 2024, where the first day focused more on financial and banking topics, while the second day was dedicated to taxes. Under the title "How to Talk to Students About Taxes in School?" topics were presented that teachers should be familiar with if they wanted to present tax-related topics to students in their classrooms. As a practical illustration of organizing a lesson on taxes, the online platform TaxEdu was presented, including cartoons for children aged 9 to 12 and e-courses for high school students. By watching individual videos and e-modules, teachers could gain a realistic insight into how a lesson on taxes could be conducted. Participants were very satisfied with what they saw and ensured that they would incorporate the TaxEdu platform into their teaching materials, even though tax-related subjects are not yet included in the mandatory school curriculum in Slovenia. They are aware that raising awareness among young people about the importance of paying taxes is truly important for the future of the youth, as it guarantees them free education up to a university degree, social security during family formation, accessible public healthcare for all, and ultimately, social security in retirement. The concluding part of the workshop involved preparing their own lesson on financial and tax literacy for their students, which the teachers successfully completed in the online classroom. The conducted training has shown a great need for raising awareness and educating adults about paying taxes as a fundamental condition for a modern society to function and meet our common needs. In the school environment, teachers are indeed the key factor who can elevate awareness of tax payment as a civic value among young people to a higher level. Therefore, in the future, attention should also be paid to this target group and not only directly to young people.