University opens its doors to children

Professor Jaeger gets to grips with his audience Keystone

St Gallen University has become the first in Switzerland to offer lectures to children.

Around 650 kids, aged nine to 12, poured into the university’s main lecture hall last week to learn about money – and get an early taste of university life.

“It was really fascinating,” beamed 11-year old Florian after the lecture, entitled “Where does money come from?”.

The free lecture was the first in a three-part series explaining how money is earned and generated.

“This is open to all children from all backgrounds and from all schools,” university rector Peter Gomez told swissinfo, stressing that the university was not targeting over-achievers.

“We think that topics such as business, economics and law – our core disciplines – are hugely underestimated in schools. No one tells children how these work.”

The university hopes last week’s lecture will be the first of many offered to children during school-free afternoons.

One parent said her son had been looking forward to the event for weeks. “It’s good for them to learn about something as important as money and to get a taste for the adult environment of a university,” said Maria Sulz.

The universities of Zurich and Basel will be following suit later in 2004, two years after Tübingen University in Germany began offering lectures to kids.

Daunting

The children may have been excited, but for economics professor Franz Jaeger the lecture was a terrifying prospect.

“In all my years as a lecturer, I’ve never had so much stage fright as today,” Jaeger told swissinfo ahead of the event.

It was indeed a daunting sight, with a sea of children gazing down expectantly to the front of the auditorium, pencils poised.

Luckily, Jaeger soon won them over with the help of colourful illustrations projected onto a screen as he explained that money did not grow on trees, but had to be earned by mums and dads.

But the initial attentiveness began to wear off after Jaeger raced into the complexities of state funding, pensions and taxes.

Terms such as “the state” and “financing” were explained only briefly at the outset, leaving more distracted pupils baffled for the rest of the talk.

Soon, many of the tiny students were doodling on their notepads and passing around sweets. In one corner, a boy and girl were throwing small paper balls at one another.

But despite the dry format of the lecture – which gave the kids no chance of asking questions – Jaeger finished his monologue to thunderous applause and cheering.

Learning experience

Most of the children were clearly impressed as they streamed out of the lecture hall.

“I didn’t know what to expect and it was really good, much better than I thought,” said 11-year-old Maria Walder. “I think I understood everything.”

“I already knew about money before but now it’s clearer,” said ten-year-old Marcus Neuhaus.

Many parents and teachers, who were able to view the lecture from another room, were also won over.

“I think Jaeger handled it very well. It was no mean task,” said father-of-two Chris Hartmann. “But, to be honest, many kids probably didn’t understand all that much, especially the younger ones.”

“I also think they should have used a lot more illustrations to explain things.”

Ursula Frey, a schoolteacher, was even less enthusiastic. “It was over-simplified and too complex, with a huge amount of information to digest.”

Change of tack

A relieved Jaeger said he was delighted the talk was generally well received but admitted he might take a different approach in the future.

“It’s a learning experience for me too and we have to change a few things to make it better. But it’s a great concept and one we’ll stick to.”

Next week Jaeger will be trying to shed light on the complex relationship between money, goods and work.

Just how much the children have taken on board will become clear in the final session, when they will be quizzed on the series.

swissinfo, Vanessa Mock

lecture

650 children, aged nine to 12, attended the economics lecture at St Gallen University.
The three-part lecture series aims to explain how money is earned and generated.
The lectures are free to children and are financed by the university.
The universities of Basel and Zurich will launch their “children’s university” in the summer.