Education

Various projects for children and young people were continued in 2024 as part of the focus on education. The aim remains to strengthen basic technical skills, in particular reading and language skills. The 21st nationwide “Read Aloud Day” was also held in 2024 in conjunction with the long-standing partner, the Reading Foundation (Stiftung Lesen). Acker e. V. und Kopfsachen e. V. are new additions to the project partners. Together with Acker e. V. the pilot project “Next Stop KiFaz Acker” was launched. It is aimed at bringing environmental and nutritional education into the family, especially in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods, through the activities carried out at the learning location in conjunction with the children and family centers (KiFaz). With funding from the foundation, Kopfsachen e. V. is developing MegA, a prevention program for the mental health of vocational students.

With regard to digital literacy, the foundation is supporting the project “Jugend hackt Labs” of the Open Knowledge Foundation e. V for the sixth year.

Another focus in the area of education remains on strengthening the personalities of children and young people. With its project partners Balu und Du and Climb Lernferien, the Deutsche Bahn Foundation supports children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families in school and extracurricular activities. In conjunction with Teach First Deutschland and Rock Your Life!, young people from socioeconomically disadvantaged families are supported in making the transition to work.

The Deutsche Bahn Foundation’s annual call for funding applications was a targeted response to the political situation in the 2024 state election year, aimed at promoting dialog between people with different opinions and experiences and actively confronting conspiracy thinking and misinformation. Sixteen charitable projects were supported.