7 News Belize

The Importance of Financial Literacy
posted (July 17, 2012)
400 Staffers from the international accountancy PriceWaterhouseCoopers teamed up with Peacework and the Ministry of Education to facilitate a two week financial literacy programme in Belize City for more than 1,500 primary school students.

The programe is in its fourth year and it is a major, ambitious initiative to instill the values of entrepreneurship, money management and wealth creation in these primary schoolers.

200 employees from PWC were here last week - and now another 200 have come on for a programme that seems to expand every year. This year, they are including teachers and parents - and we found out more at one of the staging grounds: the ITVET Center in Belize City - where we spoke to some of the principal players:...

Jahmoor Lopez, Bz District Education Officer
"We actually are currently working with almost all of the primary schools in the Belize City area. I think it's a total of 30 primary schools minus the private schools."

"It's having certainly a huge impact on the upper division students in those schools and also 1st and 2nd form students at 4 secondary schools. We are looking at a total of about 1500-1800 young persons who are being taught about financial literacy."

Heather Marie Burke, Peacework
"This year the project is 2 weeks long and we are working in every public school in Belize City and we are impacting around 1800 youths."

Christopher Randall, Price Waterhouse Coopers - USA
"We found like you probably have that understanding money and being financially smart and financially literate is an important skill for your whole life. You have to know how to manage your resources, you have to know how to sue your money and the earlier you can learn that the more successful you can be in managing your life well and helping others as well and so that's why financial literacy is such an important for BWC."

"Financial literacy is skill for the future. It's a skill right here and now. We are working with youth and we are also working with parents and teachers on basic financial skills; budgeting, saving, credit and spending but we are also looking long-term for the goals of Belize and the people of Belize - really helping to build a better economic base and better economic opportunity for the youth of Belize and the future of Belize."

Jahmoor Lopez, Bz District Education Officer
"This is a unique opportunity for us to get our young people at a very early age to understand the significance of money, the value of money, how to earn it legally, how to manage it and how to make that money work them."

Heather Marie Burke, Peacework
"Right now we are focusing on 5 selective lessons and so those lessons revolve around career planning. They revolve around goal setting, budgeting, savings and expenses - differentiating between needs and wants."

Jahmoor Lopez, Bz District Education Officer
"Children are actually taught from as soon as they complete this program - to open up a bank account, to discipline themselves, to save at least 10% of whatever they get and if you keep practicing you perfect what you continue to practice, so I believe that we are going to continue to see more of the impact now and it will be of a greater impact 5-10 years down the road when these young people become adults."

Christopher Randall, Price Waterhouse Coopers - USA
"We want to see youth as they get older to be able to use their money effectively to build their community and to reach out to others and so ultimately we know this will make a difference and that's why we are so committed."

And while new students take part every year, forty of them have been selected for four year scholarships - and they receive training every summer.

The programme ends this week.

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