LFMI’s brand new textbook on economics – Economics in 31 Hours – will be hitting the bookstores and schools across Lithuania this autumn after a pilot project with 30 teachers and over 1,300 pupils. It received a considerable number of positive reviews of the most prominent Lithuanian educationalists and has been enlisted among recommended textbooks for secondary schools by the Ministry of Education and Science of Lithuania. In fact, the success of Economics in 31 Hours has by far exceeded all our expectations. Over 2,000 textbooks have already been ordered by Lithuanian schools and businesses. Such a great demand for the textbook confirms what one of the reviewers has said about the textbook: “this textbook is especially needed in Lithuania due to the values promoted and contemporary teaching methods provided”.
This great success of LFMI’s project implies the importance of economics when it comes to the promotion and teaching of the fundamental aspects of a free society based on Western values as well as shaping critical thought of young people. “I am confident that the most ambitious educational project of the last years will be a huge success! Over a thousand pupils and their teachers helped to develop the textbook.” – says Marija Vyšniauskaitė, Head of LFMI’s Education Centre.
Teaching of economics as a separate subject is compulsory for 9-10th grade school pupils in Lithuania. Our textbook is designed to develop the understanding of economics as an essential part of daily life rather than teaching it as a discipline which has nothing to do with the reality. Therefore, three years ago the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) started this ambitious educational project with the aim to publish a new generation textbook for Lithuanian pupils and to design and develop an interactive learning and teaching aid for both teachers and students of economics. In LFMI’s view, it is of major importance that young people understand economics as well as causes of certain economic decisions and their influence on the society, and a modern textbook which meets today’s realities is a perfect tool to provide the skills necessary.
