When I read in an American news website that the the US kids do not get enough financial education in school, my heart broke. Not for the American kids but for the Filipino youth.
If the Americans find it very unfortunate that the majority of their students do not receive even a basic financial foundation, what more about our Filipino youngsters?
In the US, some 15 to 20 states require high school students to take a personal finance or economics course as a requirement for graduation. In the Philippines, only a handful of private schools offer mandatory subjects tackling entrepreneurship, cooperative management, banking basics, etc.
There are no clear and standard personal finance subjects mandated by DepEd or the Commission on Higher Education. Although there are few bills and acts proposed by our good and critical-thinking lawmen like Sen. Sonny Angara, Sen. Bam Aquino, and Congressman Alfred Vargas.
I’m not lobbying or campaigning for these guys as I am currently apolitical but I have to give them credits for what they are offering on the table are opportunities for the youth to develop themselves as great financial decision makers of the future.
Angat Pilipinas Coalition’s FLY or Financial Literacy for the Youth Program
For the past 4 years or so, Angat Pilipinas has been zeroing in on bringing financial education to the youth and the teachers in every classroom in the country and overseas where there are Philippine schools.
We have partnered with Adarna House, an independent and a non-profit publishing company that supports financial literacy to children from the urban Metro Manila and to the far-flung barangays of the country through story-telling, book distributions, resource sharing, and training of teachers and parents.
We believe that teaching our kids money concepts such as saving early and often, the importance of budgeting and investing and how to avoid debt are vital factors to achieve financial success. It is also very important that they respect the value of money.
We are also planning to bring with us some indie musicians and singers to these schools so that children will not view these money subjects as another boring part of their school lives.
This Philippine summer of 2015, we are launching our first Youth Financial Summer Camp in cooperation with the Junior Financial Executives of PUP (Polytechnic University of the Philippines)-Manila. Here’s our cutesy poster designed by our ever reliable Mission Director for Artists and Musicians, Des Feliciano.
It will be a very exciting 2 days of classes, games, and fieldtrips for your teens!
This Summer Camp will not only expose the young Campsters to the real financial world by bringing them to the Philippine Stock Exchange or the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. This will also teach them and obtain knowledge about business startups and the value of social responsibility through their investments and business ideas.
This financial enrichment experience will also provide additional advantages to your children. Financial Summer Camps will look good on college applications and can provide good profile and resume material that can lead to an internship or even a job while studying.
Also, being able to meet the executives of financial institutions and networking with the reputable individuals at an early age can have a significant impact in their lives.
What Do You Need To Do as Parents?
1. Take the first step. Parents should be aware and realize that they need to take the lead in their children’s financial education. You should not expect your kids to learn what they need to know in school.
2. Start as early as possible. You can actually teach your children some money skills at a young age. Give your young kids and toddlers some chores so that they can “earn” and collect allowance to buy the things that they need.
3. Talk about money bravely. If your kids ask you about money matters at home, share whatever knowledge you have learned and do not be scared to tell them about the financial decision mistakes that you have made in the past. You may talk about your credit card debts and how you are gradually paying them off the right way.
4. Get them excited for the next summer camp. You can also encourage kids to save money and spend less now so that they can have money to use toward their next summer camp. Do not prevent your children and teens if they want to sell palamig or kakanin or sandwiches to their classmates, playmates and neighbors. Be glad when you see them doing this for this shows how they are starting to value money at their young age.
Give a brighter future for your children by helping them improve their financial well-being. You will be happy to know that having a healthy financial outlook in life can bring psychological and physical health and they will value life even more.
For more information about the FLY’s Summer Camp, please get in touch through the number and email address indicated in the poster above.
Angat Pilipinas!
P.S. 1. Bro. Bo Sanchez has appointed me as a coach for our young and new investors at the TrulyRichClub social site. It’s a fun, learning family with the purpose of “helping good people become rich”. I’m inviting you to join the TrulyRichClub too and email me at burngutierrezblog@gmail.com if you have any questions. Click here to join!
P.S. 2. Have you scored your e-tickets to the 1st Angat Pilipinas Financial Literacy Awards? Buy your tickets now and witness the gathering of financial literacy heroes in the country! With performances by Joey Ayala, Darryl Shy, Nityalila, Kooky Tuason, and more! Also featuring Miriam Quiambao, Paulo Tibig, Randell Tiongson, Jao Mapa, and hosted by Jojo Alejar! CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR e-TICKETS!
P.S. 3. Do you want to learn how to invest in foreclosed properties but don’t know where to start? There are various ways one can earn money through investing in foreclosures and our speaker Jay Castillo of ForeclosurePhilippines.Com will discuss some of the possible ways based on what he learned in the past few years. Attend the 2nd batch of the Usapang Foreclosed Property Investing seminar on March 21, 2015 at the Lakambini Hall, Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.! CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR e-TICKETS!