Barclays equips children with financial literacy

Pauline Dikuelo | Monday July 27, 2015 14:47

Through the partnership, they organised a one-day workshop to teach students about financial literacy, which usually is attended by the students who stood out from all the schools that participated. Students who participated in the programme this year were from Artesia JSS, Tlokweng JSS, Maikano JSS and Ithuteng JSS and Lentswe primary school attended the workshop.

The day consisted of team building activities and Aflateen sessions designed for different club members. The sessions covered topics, which included saving and spending, planning and budgeting, social and financial enterprises, personal understanding and exploration as well as rights and responsibilities. Barclays Bank Communications Relations Manager Yodit Kassaye-Molosi said, through this partnership they wanted to focus on the economic side and make sure they look at opportunities for young people to develop enterprise skills.

“Through this, they can be able to go out there and make a living for themselves, becoming economically active and independent in the process. “This is also in line with our strategy to work with young people to become economically independent,” she said

Aflateen Coordinator Garret Flint said they organised a workshop to come and congratulate the students who had saved hundreds of Pulas to start up their own businesses, which are now generating some profit.

“We teach these kids to do something like baking bread and encouraging them to run it as their own business. “Usually these kids get stalls in the local market where they sell their products and keep that money for the end of the year and use it to buy schools stuff for themselves,” said Flint.

He added that Aflateen is an innovative and interactive programme designed to develop teenagers into conscientious and responsible adults.

Recently Aflateen signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Education and Skills Development so that all the schools in Botswana can get the financial literacy at a young age to develop them. Previously Aflateen and Barclays organised the child and youth finance symposium as part of Global Money Week in March this year. The symposium called on private institutions and the government to develop more youth inclusive services and policies to enhance their employability and entrepreneurial skills.

Aflateen is a programme that is operating under the Stepping-Stones and is 100 percent funded by Barclays Bank of Botswana.

When it started its operations in 2012 only about 20 schools participated, but that looks set to change following the signing of the MoU.