Tuesday, June 29, 2010

ADVOCACY GROUP UNVEILS SCHOOLS FINACIAL SKILLS PROJECT

The Business Times Reporter

Friday; June 25th-July.1st.2010

A ONE-year project to raise the financial knowledge and capability for ten secondary schools in Ilala municipality in Dar-es-salaam was flagged off last month. The Tanzania Consumer Advocacy Society (TCAS), working in collaboration with Consumers International and Banked by the Anne Fransen Fund is undertaking that initiative to support teachers to be able to integrate consumer financial education in their teaching and outdoor activities to boost students’ ability to handle financial issues.
The picture above shows teachers following the session

The project is geared to impart teachers with the necessary consumer financial education topics and use this acquired skill by imparting it to students. That would make those leaving secondary school to be capable of handling matters, thus literate enough to participate in initiatives involving financial opportunities. They need to know where to go for help and to make informed choices, project officials said.

Bernard Kihiyo, executive director for TCAS, said in an interview last week that the project aims to improve students’ and teachers’ financial well being, by a better understanding and ability to manage risks, dealing with market complexity and increased credit sector competition. “That would help them to take part in building a sustainable finance sector in the country”, he said.

The project, ‘Teaching for financial education’, will encourage financial education in the selected school as entry point across the country, where it will also enable the recognition of well performing teachers, students and schools, he said.

The initiative challenges youth to take control of their financial future by learning more about personal finance, as well as teachers and schools to incorporate vital information and topics into day to day education activities. “The teaching kit describes key knowledge, understanding, skills and values in consumer and financial literacy that students can acquire through studies in commerce, bookkeeping, economics, and accounts”. The director noted that.

Those benefiting from the project are Al-Haramain secondary school, Azania secondary school, Benjamin Mkapa secondary school, Dar es salaam secondary school, Jangwani secondary school, Kisutu girls’ secondary school, Mchanganyiko secondary school, Mnazi Mmoja secondary school, Tambaza secondary school and Zanaki girls secondary school.

Kihiyo said that the initiatives is basically aimed at developing skills in financial education and build on consumer financial literacy which is still low in the country compared with other countries in the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern Africa Development Community(SADC).

The director, who heads Parasol Real Estate & Developer Agent Ltd, said that there is growing concern on violations of consumer rights, rising consumer debt, reduced household savings, lower Pension and retirement coverage.

There is also a problem of low levels of financial literacy and basic skills, negative charges in the marketing and delivery of financial services with increased reliance on alternative financial services under informal systems, he said.

Growing concern was also being registered on changes in the delivery of government services and benefits, he said, arguing that all these features show the rising importance of the provision of financial education. “This would help to increase the financial capability of consumers, in this case secondary school students”, he further noted.

On the left is a group picture of teachers participated on the two days training

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