“If, upon graduating from school, a student is able to think critically, make well-informed financial decisions, is not afraid to ask questions, and understands that they themselves bear primary responsibility for their choices, I believe I will have accomplished a great deal,” says Jolita Noruvienė, an expert teacher of economics and entrepreneurship who works with upper-secondary students at Alytus Putinai Gymnasium and Alytus Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas Gymnasium.
Noruvienė teaches not only important economic concepts but also decision-making skills relevant to everyday life. She is convinced that every member of society should know how their salary is calculated, what taking out a loan entails, and that every choice has a cost — one that is not necessarily measured in money.
Jolita, how has the content of economics lessons changed in recent years? What topics are the most important today, and what, in your opinion, should every member of society know?
Economics lessons today are certainly no longer just about supply, demand, GDP, or calculating inflation. Of course, the fundamental concepts of economics remain, but there are now many more topics directly related to young people’s experiences and everyday lives.
In my lessons, we talk a great deal about personal finance, responsible borrowing, investing, taxes, the labour market, entrepreneurship, business ethics, and financial risks. Today, it is also important for young people to understand how to use various artificial intelligence tools appropriately, how technology affects the labour market, and how our lives are influenced by sustainability issues, economic crises, and geopolitical events.
I believe that everyone, even if they never study economics, should at least understand how their salary is calculated, what taxes they pay, and why it is important for both individuals and businesses to pay taxes honestly. They should also understand how taxes benefit the country’s residents, what inflation is, why interest rates change, what taking out a loan means, and what risks are involved in investing. Finally, it is important to understand that in economics every choice has a cost, and that cost is not necessarily measured only in euros.
What skills are becoming just as important as economic knowledge itself in economics lessons today?
Today, young people can find an enormous amount of information within minutes, including countless pieces of advice on how to invest or earn passive income. However, it is important to understand that information can be presented very attractively while actually being far removed from reality. Therefore, our goal as teachers is to help young people critically evaluate the information they receive, select reliable information appropriately, and make well-considered decisions while taking responsibility for the possible consequences.
Financial resilience is also extremely important — understanding that mistakes, failures, and unexpected events are part of life, and that we therefore need to know how to plan, maintain a financial reserve, and assess risk. In my opinion, these skills are needed in life far more often than the ability to recite the definition of an economic concept from memory.
Economics is often associated with numbers and money, but this initiative also talks about freedom and responsibility. Is it possible to teach economics without discussing values?
I firmly believe that it is impossible to teach economics without talking about values. After all, economics is directly connected to the choices people make. Freedom is not merely the ability to do whatever you want. It also means being prepared to take responsibility for your choices.
In our lessons, we discuss financial literacy, which naturally leads to conversations about taxes, business, employment relations, and consumption. What should a business be like? For example, should a clothing manufacturer comply with labour laws and refrain from exploiting minors? Why are clothes made by a legally operating company more expensive than those produced in some underground factory? Is the consumer also responsible for the product they buy? Why? To what extent is an individual responsible for their own financial future, and how much responsibility should lie with the state? Questions like these allow us to discuss economics not only through numbers and concepts, but also through the choices we face every day.
Jolita Noruvienė
Today, the internet is full of information about business, investing, financial success, and various ways of making money. Do you find that students come to economics lessons with certain views already formed or with a considerable amount of knowledge?
Young people today come to economics lessons with far more information than before. Many are already investing, older students have started their own businesses, and they know about stocks, cryptocurrencies, e-commerce, dropshipping, and other business models. However, it is important to point out that having a lot of information does not necessarily mean having a good understanding of economics.
Some beliefs need to be challenged. Many young people think that investing offers an easy and quick way to make money, especially when high returns are promised. I always tell them: the higher the return, the greater the risk — there is no such thing as quick money. On social media, we mostly see very attractive success stories, while far less is said about people who took major risks and lost a great deal.
Students also often think that all it takes to build a good, successful business is a brilliant idea. But they forget that turning an idea into an actual product or service requires an enormous amount of work. You need to find customers, calculate costs, assess the competition, think about what makes your product or service distinctive, consider marketing, build a strong team, and address many other aspects that are often invisible at first glance.
What is the greatest challenge in teaching economics today — a lack of modern teaching resources, attitudes towards money and success shaped by social media, the rapidly changing world, or something else entirely?
Although there is no single answer, the greatest challenge is probably the speed at which events and changes occur in our lives and around the world. An economics teacher has to follow the news constantly because what was relevant yesterday may already be outdated today. The same lesson topic may look different from one day or week to the next because circumstances in the world have changed.
Another challenge is social media. It often portrays young people as highly successful, even when that success is not genuine. Think about the image this creates for a young person: someone young, with an expensive car, travelling, running a business, and constantly repeating that all you need to do is “step outside your comfort zone.” In real life, the path to financial success is usually much more complicated — it involves learning, work, discipline, patience, and mistakes, and all of this takes a great deal of time. I try to help students understand that failure does not mean the destruction or loss of a dream — it is an opportunity to understand what it really takes to achieve that dream.
To provide upper-secondary students with more professional, top-level knowledge, the Alytus Academy of Economics and Business was established in 2016 through cooperation between Alytus Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas Gymnasium, Mykolas Romeris University, and Alytus City Municipality. Every other Saturday, students voluntarily attend lectures and activities at the Academy, deepening their knowledge of financial literacy, entrepreneurship, economics, communication, and collaboration. Based on our Academy model, an equivalent academy has been operating in Panevėžys since 2019, in Vilkaviškis since 2023, and in Marijampolė since 2025.
What questions about the future do your students ask most often today? Are they more concerned about how to earn more, how to build a stable life, or something else entirely?
Of course, the main question is usually: “Teacher, tell us how to make a lot of money.” This has always been a very relevant topic — it would probably be strange if a young person did not ask about it.
Young people are also interested in which professions will definitely be needed in the future and which may disappear altogether. They care not only about salary levels but also about working conditions — whether employees are treated fairly and whether they are being exploited.
This is not a generation that will tolerate being mistreated at work, burdened with additional tasks, or asked to work longer hours without being paid for it. I believe this younger generation values freedom very highly while also seeking security. Sometimes it is difficult to reconcile the two.
On social media, I often see headlines claiming that young people today are irresponsible or lazy. But I can confidently say that people like that have existed in every generation. Today, young people often work during the summer, while others, particularly older students, also work during the school year — on weekends or after classes — and some start their own businesses.
What new competencies do you think teachers need today, particularly when students come to school with very different experiences and schools need to prepare them not only for exams but also for life?
It is no longer enough for a teacher simply to know their subject well. Teachers must continue learning, know how to use technology and artificial intelligence tools, be able to select reliable information, and teach students how to use these tools responsibly. It is also important to understand social media and to show young people that mindlessly scrolling through it teaches them nothing — it merely takes away valuable time.
The ability to work with students of very different levels is also extremely important. One student may come to class already knowing how to invest and perhaps even running a small business, while another may struggle to understand percentages, interest rates, or how to calculate a markup or discount. One student may be interested in starting a business, while another may feel that economics has nothing to do with their life. My task, therefore, is to find a way to reach both of them and present the material in a way that each student can understand.
It is also very important for teachers not to be afraid to admit that there are things they do not know. The world is changing so quickly that it is simply impossible to know everything, keep track of everything, and have answers to every question. If I do not know something, I always say openly: “You know what, everyone, I really don’t know, but let’s take out our phones and try to find the answer together.” Even I am curious, for example, about what the inflation rate in Lithuania is today.
Ultimately, the purpose of school is not merely to prepare a young person for an exam. If, upon graduating from school, a student is able to think critically, make well-informed financial decisions, is not afraid to ask questions, and understands that they themselves bear primary responsibility for their choices, I believe I will have accomplished a great deal.
The philanthropic Devbridge Foundation and the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) aim to provide Lithuanian economics teachers with relevant tools to help them develop their ability to engage young people in classroom discussions about freedom, responsibility, and value-based choices. As many as 150 Lithuanian teachers are participating in the programme.