5.5 million euros for more educational equality: UniCredit Foundation and Teach For All sign a Europe-wide partnership

2023-11-06 16:30:29

The aim of the collaboration with the global education network Teach for All is to support teachers at partner schools across Europe.

Vienna (OTS) – The UniCredit Foundation and the global education network Teach For All are starting a three-year collaboration to enable high-quality educational offerings at numerous partner schools and thus promote educational equality across Europe. The partnership, supported with 5.5 million euros, focuses on six countries where UniCredit Group operates: Italy, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. The UniCredit Foundation is also increasing Teach for All’s support for the training of additional teachers, known as “Fellows,” who will work at partner schools in these countries.

With this commitment worth millions, in combination with increased support, the UniCredit Foundation and Teach for All want to reduce educational differences among children and young people across Europe and prevent school dropouts. In particular, by providing young people with the education they deserve, enabling them to seize new opportunities and achieve their professional goals.

The collaboration between UniCredit Foundation and Teach for All began back in 2022, when the UniCredit Group corporate foundation and a network of independent partner organizations joined forces to contribute to the foundation’s goal of promoting the potential of Europe’s next generation. This is to be achieved through access to high-quality educational opportunities for children and young people, which Teach for All strives for worldwide.

A UNICEF report in March found that despite continued efforts by governments, the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated educational inequalities in Europe and Central Asia, with 63 million students affected by school closures. The report also finds that between 2013 and 2019, three percent of primary school-aged children in Eastern Europe and Central Asia were out of school, compared to one percent in Western Europe. In Romania, one of the countries where UniCredit operates and which is supported by the new Teach for All partnership, the dropout rate at primary school age is particularly high: 12 percent for male students and 13 percent for female students.

According to Eurostat, 11.1 percent of young men and 8 percent of young women in the EU drop out of school or vocational training prematurely. Dropping out early has lifelong implications as it limits employment opportunities, which can lead to lower earning potential, mental health problems and social exclusion.

Since the beginning of the collaboration between the UniCredit Foundation and Teach for All, around 2 million euros have been made available, which has sustainably improved the educational opportunities of young people across Europe. Within the Teach for All network in Europe, 592 “Fellow Teachers” from a wide range of backgrounds were successfully trained and supported, meaning that in just one year more than 40,600 European students have benefited from improved educational quality.

The new partnership between UniCredit Foundation and Teach for All, supported with 5.5 million euros, will help achieve significantly better results in the future: by enabling Teach for All teachers and local school authorities to create a more inclusive school environment , which offers all children and young people a high-quality education. The UniCredit Foundation and Teach for All’s local network partners will train more than 1,400 additional teachers who will teach more than 83,000 students by 2026. In addition, the network partners will promote the social skills of more than 3,600 Teach for All alumni and more than 10,870 teachers across the system.

Andrea Orcel, Chairman of the UniCredit Foundation: “I am pleased to announce this renewed partnership between UniCredit Foundation and Teach For All. Europe has the potential to be a major economic power, leading global economic and social progress and promoting a future of shared prosperity. That’s why our bank and the Foundation have made it their joint task to tap this potential. The UniCredit Foundation helps equip students with the tools they need to build a better future for themselves, their communities and Europe as a whole. Together with Teach For All, we will strengthen fair access to education in six UniCredit countries, promote the social skills of young people and promote long-term positive social change.”

“We are proud of this partnership with the UniCredit Foundation,” says Wendy Kopp, co-founder and CEO of Teach For All. “UniCredit Foundation’s support will help us expand our work and develop a range of high-performing teachers who will improve educational opportunities for disadvantaged students across Europe. Together we are committed to ensuring that all children and young people have the opportunity to develop their potential and shape a better future for themselves and the world.”

Robert Zadrazil, CEO of UniCredit Bank Austria: “Our partnership with Teach for Austria is of great importance to us, because there is still a lot to be done in this country to ensure equal educational opportunities for all children and young people. UniCredit Bank Austria is also making its contribution – in particular by contributing our expertise in financial education and digitalization. My own volunteer work at a school in Vienna was a valuable experience for me and I am convinced that with this offer we can have a positive influence on the educational and development opportunities of young people. My thanks also go to all colleagues involved – their active commitment to Austrian schools is absolutely inspiring.”

Severin Broucek, Managing Director of Teach for Austria: “By combining international forces, we can develop innovative formats that support our students and fellows. The 3-year partnership with the UniCredit Foundation allows us to reach 11,500 students at 80 partner schools and kindergartens. In addition, we now have the opportunity to venture into strategic developments in the direction of elementary education and thus bring our fellow program to socioeconomically disadvantaged kindergartens. The work for equal opportunities must begin as early as possible in order to sustainably empower young people.”

Through this partnership, the UniCredit Foundation’s total investment in educational measures since the beginning of the year has amounted to 18.1 million euros. This corresponds to 91 percent of the total amount of 20 million euros that the UniCredit Group provided for the foundation this year. This underlines the commitment of the UniCredit Foundation and its central role within the bank’s overarching social strategy, under which the group has provided a total volume of around 8 billion euros in social financing in the form of microloans, impact financing and loans to disadvantaged areas. This is part of the total volume of around 80 billion in ESG emissions for the 2022 financial year and the first nine months of 2023. In addition, UniCredit Group invested a total of 36.5 million euros in social and philanthropic initiatives in 2022, of which 8 million Euros for education and young people.

Teach for Austria has been active for twelve years and has so far reached 53,000 children and young people through 523 fellows at 123 partner schools and 36 kindergartens. As part of the two-year fellowship program, university graduates from various disciplines are trained to become pedagogical specialists and teachers. They then work in schools and kindergartens with socioeconomically disadvantaged children and young people. Their goal is to use their different study backgrounds and professional experiences to enrich the students’ everyday learning and educational careers and to prevent early school dropouts.

Teach for Austria alumni are therefore ambassadors for educational justice. In the 2022/23 school year, 107 fellows (teachers) looked after more than 11,100 children and young people at 66 educational institutions (schools and kindergartens) in Austria. More than 370 alumni have already completed the fellowship program. Teach for Austria had a total of 124 volunteers in the 2022/23 school year, who, together with 54 fellows, reached around 1,500 students.

UniCredit Bank Austria also supports the Teach for Austria volunteering program, in which bank employees commit to teaching at a school for 20 hours per semester and supervising projects on financial education, digitalization or careers. Also Robert Zadrazil, CEO of UniCredit Bank Austria, and Marion Morales Albinaña-Rosner, Board Member for Private Banking and Wealth Management at UniCredit Bank Austriahave already been involved here as volunteers.

From the voluntary commitment of Marion Morales Albinaña-Rosner The idea also arose for the “Girls Go Finance” project, a workshop just for girls and young women, in which a total of 160 students from eight schools took part in June 2023. In the 2022/23 school year, UniCredit Bank Austria provided 19 volunteers who taught in 15 classes at nine schools and reached around 290 students. In addition Marion Morales Albinaña-Rosner Finally: “Girls and women still do not have the same opportunities as men in many areas. They often earn less and therefore have a lower pension later because they have taken care of their children for a long time. In my opinion, financial education, financial independence and strengthening self-confidence are important cornerstones to counteract this.”

UniCredit Foundation

The UniCredit Foundation is the corporate foundation of the UniCredit Group with the aim of unlocking the potential of the next generation in Europe. Its mission is to empower young people across Europe through equal opportunities in education and to help them find their way in life and the world of work. The foundation’s initiatives aim to combat early school leaving, improve employability, promote higher education qualifications and support study and research. The foundation is active in all countries in which the UniCredit Group operates.

Teach For All

Teach For All is a global network of 61 independent, locally run and managed partner organizations and a global organization that drives the development of the network. Each network partner recruits and develops promising future leaders who teach in partner schools in the respective country and, on this basis, work with others inside and outside the education system to ensure that all children and young people can fulfill their potential. The aim of Teach For All’s global organization is to increase the impact of the network by supporting the development of new organizations, promoting networking and learning within the network, providing coaching and advice, and providing access to global resources for the benefit of the network .

Teach for Austria

Teach For Austria is part of the international network Teach For All. The organization was founded in 2011 as a non-profit foundation. Teach For Austria’s two-year leadership development program trains university graduates from a wide range of disciplines to become pedagogical specialists and teachers, the fellows. These work in schools and kindergartens with socioeconomically disadvantaged children and young people who are at high risk of dropping out of their education early.