Education initiative

Helping Europe’s pupils get moneywise

A scheme to take a successful UK financial education project to continental Europe is making good progress, reports Valerie Bauckham, Project Manager for the European Financial Education Partnership.

For the past few years British secondary school pupils have been learning vital financial skills that will help them in life after school, thanks to the pioneering Financial Education Partnership programme. Now European pupils may soon get the same chance to become more financially savvy thanks to a project to transfer the successful UK model to the Continent.

Known as the European Financial Education Partnership (EFEP) project, it will consist of interactive financial education workshops using a volunteer network of financial services practitioners, teachers and other experts. The initial project under the EFEP banner is testing whether the original model can be successfully adapted to meet the needs of target groups in Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain.

The project will bring together and develop a public/private network of key financial education stakeholders in each country, including teachers and school managers, regional and national authorities, financial services organizations and professional, educational and parental associations.

By bringing a panel of fully trained financial professionals into the classroom in each country, the aim is that teachers and pupils alike will benefit from the project’s innovative, interactive delivery model.

Vocational training and education providers with over 400 years’ combined experience in financial education provision and financial literacy programmes make up the project consortium.

Individual partners have participated in and led over 30 financial education projects at regional to international level and have successfully coordinated and implemented European-funded education projects.

So far so good

The project’s first task was a “needs and gaps” analysis of financial education provision at secondary schools in Germany, Greece, Italy, the UK and Spain, which are the five main participating countries.

The analysis identified priority topics, considered the most effective delivery mechanisms and assessed the need for additional specialist materials as well as different forms of delivery.

It also considered how the UK FEP model would need to be adapted in each country. The analysis identified key gaps in financial education provision in schools and guided the appropriate follow-up activities for partners.

Following this analysis, the programme has now established specific workshop packages and teaching materials, a volunteer training programme and workshop evaluation tools.

It has created stakeholder engagement plans, which identified volunteers and long-term stakeholders, as well as a project brochure and multi-lingual website. National dissemination seminars were held in Athens and Rome, in May and September 2011.

Better choices

The intention in the coming months and years is that the networks created during the lifetime of the project will be expanded further and that the programme is adopted in other European countries. A key feature of the project is the “Development and Sustainability Plan”, which will guide European and national policy makers and financial education stakeholders when they develop similar public/private financial education networks in future.

The project’s ultimate objective is to improve the quality of teaching and learning in financial education in classrooms across Europe by developing and promoting a free-of-charge, long-term and sustainable classroom delivery service. In doing so it will give students the skills they need to make the best decisions for their personal circumstances and to provide important skills for independent living.

Why is this important? Research shows that students and citizens who understand financial issues make better choices for their particular needs and are more likely to save, take fewer financial risks, avoid products that would be inappropriate for them and invest wisely. They also make more knowledgeable consumers which can help drive a competitive, cross-border market.

For further information on the work of the European Financial Education Partnership, please visit www.efep-project.eu or contact valerie@charteredbanker.com

Teaching professionalism & ethics at work

The Chartered Banker Institute will help educate secondary pupils about the professional and ethical behaviour expected of them in the workplace through the development of fun, interactive and engaging workshops.

The idea for the Professionalism and Ethics workshop arose after the Scottish school curriculum body, Learning and Teaching Scotland, and other research identified the need to enhance the “soft skills” of school leavers and, in particular, their understanding of what employers expected of them.

Tackling this topic fits well with the Institute’s overall aim to promote professionalism and ethics and the aim of the Financial Education Partnership to promote financial and employment skills for school pupils.

The workshop includes role play and a quiz on ethics. It considers moral philosophies, professionalism, integrity and the messages we all convey through our general presentation, use of language and body language. It offers pupils examples of suitable and non-suitable language and behaviour in the workplace.

It also seeks to provide pointers on how to deal with certain situations should they arise.

It explores, for example, the notion that it can sometimes be hard to make decisions in business as you may have divided loyalties.

The UK FEP is supported by Airdrie Savings Bank, Clydesdale Bank Plc, Dunfermline Building Society, Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Life Plc and Tesco Bank. The careers skills workshops are also supported by the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investments, Financial Skills Partnership and Scottish Investment Operations.

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