On March 21st of this year, the 2024 Economic Education Year Gala took place at the Reduta Banku Polskiego building, concluding the 8th Financial Education Congress organized by the Warsaw Institute of Banking Foundation and the Warsaw Stock Exchange Foundation. The Gala was hosted by the initiators of REE 2024, six non-governmental organizations, including, in addition to WIB and FGPW, the Youth Entrepreneurship Foundation, the Czepczyński Family Foundation, the Polish Economic Society, and the Polish Scouting Association.
The Gala was opened by representatives of the REE 2024 Organizing Committee: Waldemar Zbytek, President of the Warsaw Institute of Banking and Chairman of the Committee, and Alina Bączar, Vice-President of the Management Board of the GPW Foundation. Agnieszka Wachnicka, Vice-President of the Management Board of the Polish Bank Association, also welcomed guests on behalf of the REE 2024 Program Committee. The official opening of the Gala concluded with a speech by Krzysztof Pietraszkiewicz, Chairman of the REE 2024 Honorary Committee.
Following the opening ceremony, nominations for the "Award for Merit in Economic Education" were presented. The jury consisted of:
Prof. Dr. hab. Marian Gorynia
Prof. Ph.D. Krzysztof Jajuga
Grzegorz Kasdepke
Prof. Dr. hab. Stanisław Kasiewicz
Ph.D. Prof. SGH. Lech Kurklinski;
Prof. Dr. hab. Elżbieta Mączyńska
Prof. Dr. Hab. Witold Orłowski
Prof. UEK, PhD, hab. Tomasz Rachwał
Dr. hab. Katarzyna Sekścińska
During the Gala, the REE initiators also presented an award to Mairead McGuinness, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union, which was received by Przemysław Kalinka, an economic expert from the European Commission Representation in Poland.
After the presentation of nominations to the Jury and the award to the European Commission, the youngest participants of the Gala – the winners of the national final of the European Financial Quiz 2024 – were invited to the stage. The EQF is an educational project initiated in 2017 by the European Banking Federation and consists of national pre-selection stages and a European final. It is a knowledge competition on finance and cybersecurity aimed at 7th and 8th grade primary school students. The competition in Poland is organized by the Warsaw Institute of Banking in cooperation with the Polish Bank Association.
Prizes were awarded to the third, second, and first-place winners. Maciej Zalesko and Franciszek Oset from Primary School No. 20 named after General Władysław Sikorski in Białystok won the national finals and will represent Poland in the pan-European European Money Quiz finals, which will take place on April 18-19 in Brussels. The winning team's supervisor and the school's EQF Coordinator is Mariusz Sokołowski. Second place in the national finals went to Patrycja Czop and Martyna Kuras from Primary School in Chałupki Dębniańskie (team supervisor: Monika Płocica), while third place went to Marcel Głębocki and Aleksander Kisło from Primary School No. 24 with Bilingual Divisions in Białystok (team supervisor: Marzena Korolczuk).
The Gala of the Year of Economic Education 2024 was attended by representatives of most communities and entities involved in organizing activities for the economic education of society - in addition to the initiators - also including public institutions, universities, the financial sector, entrepreneurs and the media.
