The project aimed to improve special needs and other students at risk of social exclusion financial literacy knowledge and skills for strengthening their social inclusion by enhancing cross-curricular and interdisciplinary collaboration in school education and promoting experiential, game-based and social simulation teaching methods and tools. The specific project objectives: -Raise awareness on the benefits of financial literacy knowledge and skills and and equip over 12000 students from special learning and mixed schools with useful knowledge, skills, involvement and self-determination by developing workshop and photo exhibition guidelines for financial and entrepreneurial skills based on real-case simulation techniques. -Raise awareness, increase competence and equip about 10000 teachers and educators from special education and mixed schools by providing them creative, effective, game-based methodology in financial literacy skills consisting in a training package - curriculum and training materials, best practice collection and and stories of successful personal financial management for special needs students.
Due to the complexity of the financial markets, ageing European population and development of the digital world that makes money practically virtual, young people are in a vulnerable situation, and financial literacy is a vital skill. However, most of students do not receive financial education before joining the labour force. The latest youth financial literacy statistics provide clear evidence of the growing need to raise awareness about personal finance topics around the world. The latest research (2018) of the OECD‘s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assessed the financial literacy of 15 years old students. A survey found that 22.3 percent of respondents did not learn fundamental financial skills that are often applied in everyday situations, such as building a simple budget, comparison shopping, and understanding an invoice. Schools are well positioned to teach students what they may not be able to learn from their parents or by themselves, however PISA data reveal that 38% of the variation in financial literacy is not explained by mathematics or reading skills, many features of financial literacy are unique to the subject. From all this and practical direct observations the idea of the project raised.