Education and integration
Deutsche Bahn Foundation, together with the Reading Foundation (Stiftung Lesen), is heavily involved in reading and language support. This joint commitment is expressed in the reading aloud study, the 2020 topic of which was “How to make reading aloud possible in everyday life,” and the nationwide reading aloud day.
Throughout Germany, children’s wards in hospitals and hospices were supplied with 750 new reading aloud kits. During the first wave of Covid-19, Deutsche Bahn Foundation expanded its weekly reading aloud stories on the Web site einfachvorlesen.de. In April 2020, the number of people visiting the site increased fivefold.
In April 2020, Deutsche Bahn Foundation reacted to the consequences of the Covid-19 safety measures and initiated the emergency support program “Securing connections in the time of Covid-19!” (“Anschluss sichern in Corona-Zeiten!”). This promoted ad hoc education opportunities for disadvantaged children and adolescents in order to counteract the effects of school and kindergarten closures. Donations were made to 19 institutions that supported children with their learning and were able to respond to critical family situations. Measures such as homework help, learning support and the purchase of laptops were financed.
Together with the Open Knowledge Foundation, Deutsche Bahn Foundation is strengthening digital skills for children and adolescents in structurally weak regions. Local labs were opened at five locations in order to help improve equality in education. Further labs are planned.
