Rebuild Ukraine: Economic Textbook Reaches Young Ukrainians Abroad

The Ukrainian e-textbook on economics ЕКОНОМІКА для 8 (9) класів is now made available for the international educational community by the Lithuanian Free Market Institute and the Kyiv-based Bendukidze Free Market Center.

Every day more and more Ukrainian children who have escaped the horrors of the Russian invasion are resuming school far away from their homeland. Schools, educators, and civil society groups across Europe are mobilizing teaching and learning resources so that the Ukrainian refugee youth can continue their education.

In support of this cause, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute and the Kyiv-based Bendukidze Free Market Center have now made the Ukrainian-language economic textbook ЕКОНОМІКА для 8 (9) класів, in English Economics for 8th (and 9th) Grades, available for schools and educators who will be teaching Ukrainian children in Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, and other European countries.

This cutting-edge textbook, adapted by the Bendukidze Free Market Center from the international award-winning Economics in 31 Hours published by the Lithuanian Free Market Institute, will help the Ukrainian youth cultivate the much-needed knowledge of economics as well as the attitudes and skills necessary to rebuild a free and prosperous Ukraine.

Supporting Ukraine's struggle for freedom and democracy means supporting its future—the young generation. We all understand that it is Ukraine’s rising generation who will have to restore and rebuild their country, but we also realize that the trauma of war and hardships of refugee life can undermine their faith and hope. So it is key that this challenging time away from home could be a time for Ukrainian children not only to heal their wounds but, above all, to create a vision of their country’s future—a vision of a free and flourishing nation.

Our economic textbook can help young Ukrainians foster that vision and increase the understanding and appreciation of the institutional foundations which are needed for this vision to become a reality.

The Ukrainian edition ЕКОНОМІКА для 8 (9) класів now appears to have been a providential fruit of collaboration between Atlas Network member think-tanks. In 2019, the Bendukidze Free Market Center adapted the Lithuanian Economics in 31 Hours and successfully launched it in schools in seven regions of Ukraine. Today, the Ukrainian textbook is going digital so it can reach Ukrainian children in different parts of the world.

We at the Lithuanian Free Market Institute are also intent on adapting for Ukrainian school youth our state-of-the-art interdisciplinary textbook in civics, economics, and ethics. It is as important to help the Ukrainian youth understand that economics goes hand in hand with moral choices, active citizenship, and the responsibility for oneself and one’s community.

A Polish edition of our interdisciplinary citizenship course is now available in Poland, providing a proof of concept for its cross-border replication. This and many other partnerships are an invaluable asset in advancing our shared cause for a free and flourishing Ukraine.

Economics in 31 Hours is a winner of Templeton Freedom Award and London Book Fair Educational Learning Resources Award. It has been replicated in Ukraine, Slovakia, Georgia, and Uganda.

The adaptation of the Ukrainian textbook ЕКОНОМІКА для 8 (9) класів was supported by Atlas Network and Friedrich Naumann Foundation.