Digital education
The TUMO Center in Berlin
A state-of-the-art building where children and young people learn digital skills free of charge: that is the TUMO Learning Center in Berlin-Charlottenburg.
Experiences with the TUMO Center Berli
(Source: KfW / Detlev Karres / Thomas Schuch)
TUMO concept originates from Armenia
The four TUMO education centres in Armenia were the inspiration for the new TUMO Center in Berlin
The TUMO Learning Centre is based on an innovative concept from Armenia. Meanwhile, the idea developed by the Armenian-American entrepreneur couple Sam and Silva Simonian is expanding.
The TUMO Learning Centres offer is aimed at young people aged 12 to 18 and is free of charge. Young people can learn skills in digital technologies and creative methods, including animation, programming, 3D modelling and robotics, as well as music, film and photography. Students embark on their own digitally supported learning journey in self-learning sessions and workshops. Digital skills and the use of various digital technologies are taught in a practical way in workshops.
Malik Bourja works as a coach at the Berlin TUMO Center. Teaching is currently still online...
Establishing a TUMO network in Germany
With TUMO, KfW is expanding its range of education funding and digitalisation services. Together with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, KfW has been promoting the important topic of education for many decades, among other things with its study and education loan and the Upgrading Training Assistance Act ( Aufstiegs-BAföG).
As Germany's largest promotional bank, KfW supports the TUMO Learning Centre to promote digital education for young people in Germany. In its diversity, it is the first extracurricular and free learning offer on digital topics in Germany.
Of course, it is not only young people who should benefit from the TUMO concept, but also the economy and society as a whole. This is why KfW's declared goal is to find additional partners beyond Berlin and thus promote a gradual development into a nationwide network of TUMO learning centres in Germany.
TUMO Center in Mannheim
On 13 December 2022, KfW signed a partnership agreement with TUMO Armenia and the project executing agency Starkmacher e.V. to open a TUMO Center in Mannheim. This will establish the second TUMO learning center for digital skills in Germany. KfW is advising and supporting the project executing agency on site with the concept.
At the TUMO Center Mannheim, which is being built within the MAFINEX technology centre in Lindenhof, over 1,000 children and young people per week can develop their skills in ten digital subject areas after school. The offer is voluntary and free of charge. Thanks to an individual learning path, they acquire basic skills that can be deepened and consolidated in workshops and their own learning laboratories.
The TUMO Center in Mannheim is the start of a nationwide expansion of further learning centres in urban and also rural regions.
TUMO Center in Frankfurt
The third TUMO learning center for digital education in Germany and the first in Hesse is to be built in Frankfurt in 2024, and further facilities are to be built throughout Hesse. TUMO centers as an educational project create a voluntary offer for young people between the ages of twelve and 18 that are intended to improve digital skills outside of school and promote creativity.
The concept receives technical and educational support from the Hessian Ministry of Culture. The aim is to introduce students to digital skills and thus both counteract the shortage of skilled workers and strengthen the state's innovative strength.
Prominent visitor at TUMO Berlin
Chancellor visit
Angela Merkel met young people aged 12 to 18 on her tour in November 2021, who made extensive use of the many opportunities offered by the TUMO Center Berlin.
In November 2021, just a few days before the end of her term in office, the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel was able to see for herself the free digital education programme for children and young people at TUMO Berlin. Together with KfW CEO Stefan Wintels, the Chancellor took plenty of time for an extensive tour and a subsequent discussion with Center Director Pawel Mordel, KfW CDO Michael Strauß and other representatives of companies, foundations and municipalities. The then Mayor of the City of Mannheim, Dr Peter Kurz, was also there to get a personal impression of the learning centre, which will soon be located in his city in a similar form. All participants were very impressed by the Berlin location and the TUMO concept as a whole.
For KfW CEO Stefan Wintels, the TUMO learning center is a very special affair of the heart: "If we in Germany want to take advantage of the opportunities of digitalisation and deal well with its challenges, then we have to face it early on - and do so courageously, curiously and responsibly. This is exactly what is happening at TUMO. Here, young people learn to help shape digitalisation. And that is the reason why KfW is committed to TUMO as a partner."
Article by the Federal Government on the TUMO visit by the Managing Chancellor
Published on KfW Stories: 18 June 2021, updated on 4 November 2023..
The described project contributes to the following United Nationsʼ Sustainable Development Goals
Goal 4: Quality education
Refusing people access to education means depriving them of a basic human right – and of important development prospects for individuals and society. Education enables people to improve their political, social, cultural, and economic situations. Worldwide, 58 million children and 63 million young people still do not have access to primary and secondary schools. 90 per cent of all children with a disability never go to school. 781 million people are illiterate. 7.5 million people with functional illiteracy live in Germany alone.
All United Nations member states adopted the 2030 Agenda in 2015. At its heart is a list of 17 goals for sustainable development, known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our world should become a place where people are able to live in peace with each other in ways that are ecologically compatible, socially just, and economically effective.
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