BSP Launches “Money Matters for Kids” in Cebu

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Wednesday launched the “Money Matters for Kids”, a program exclusively geared to educate school children how to value financial savings.

Dr. Johnny Noe E. Ravalo, BSP Assistant Governor for Financial Supervision and Consumer Protection Sub-Sector, during the Kapihan sa PIA, said this is the second time they introduced the program here in Cebu City.

Ravalo said they chose Cebu as the second area aside from Manila due to the interesting feedbacks from parents who need to have their children to learn the importance of saving money in banks.

Money Matters for Kids program was launched in the BSP central in Manila last year, Ravalo said.

Ravalo said they will be here until November 14, 2014 to conduct seminar teaching school children inside the BSP ground floor. The BSP displays various exhibit materials teaching children to give value of keeping and savings money to the banks.

The BSP officer from Manila said they opted to adopt this plan to boost the learning capacity of school children, while they are still young.

Ravalo also promised to coordinate the education department of the government to include money savings at banks as a subject in the elementary level.

“Because the growing period of a child is very critical for them to learn important matters in their lives, so that when they are matured, they already know how to give values of the money savings”, Ravalo said.

Meanwhile, the two-week launching of Money Matters for Kids here is enough to entertain the 2,400 school children already listed to attend the daily BSP classes, Atty. Leonides B. Sumbi, Acting Director of BSP Cebu Regional Office said.

Sumbi explained that these school children are coming from the different elementary public and private schools in Metro Cebu areas.

She said prior to their coming to Cebu, they coordinated first with the Department of Education (DepEd)7 to list the elementary classes who are interested to learn money savings in banks.

At the same time Sumbi said they were much inspired upon learning how enthusiastic most parents were, by pushing their children to go through the money matters learning.

“This is how we weigh things before we introduce this program to any areas in the country to see how interested are the target observers,” Sumbi said.

For the meantime, some of the materials exhibited at the BSP lobby are reading posters with various attractive colors placed in frames, and other materials that can help the children easily understand the importance of being thrift, said BSP Manager for Financial Learning Division, Dottie M. Bernas.

Bernas said these exhibit materials served as guidance to children on how to save a little portion of their daily cash allowance in school then put it in the bank. Bernas also said that after this launching in Cebu, they will take back to Manila all these materials before they will go to other areas in Mindanao for the same campaign.

But Bernas said prior to travel to a certain area, they have to coordinate first with the DePed in that particular region to ensure the school children’s participation in Money Matters for Kids seminars.

“If the proper savings of money can be taught early to school children, then when they graduate, and find good jobs, they are already expert on how to keep properly their earnings through bank deposits”, Bernas said.

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