The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has entered into a partnership with Visa Inc., Teach for the Philippines (TFP) and the Tanghalang Pilipino (Filipino theater, TP) to boost efforts to heighten Filipinos’ financial literacy levels.
BSP Inclusive Finance Advocacy Office Head Pia Bernadette R. Tayag said the Central Bank saw the need to incorporate more innovative tools in terms of teaching both children and adults about saving and spending money wisely.
“We need more tools, innovative tools such as theater plays and more multisectoral partnerships such as this to promote financial education in the Philippines,” Tayag said. “We also need to sustain ongoing efforts to truly improve financial literacy levels of all Filipinos.”
Citing a World Bank study, she explained that only 2 percent of Filipino adults were able to correctly answer seven questions used for cross-country comparison in terms of financial literacy levels.
According to her, the BSP also partnered with the Department of Education (DepEd).
“We have an ongoing partnership with the DepEd so there is an opportunity to institutionalize [financial literacy videos as] teaching tools for the curriculum of K to 12,” Tayag said. “If we can put this also with that partnership, it will reach all public schools around 20,000. It’s already ready.”
According to her, the TFP was tasked to roll out this project. “But the one we are doing with the DepEd is for all, so it can be available as early as this year and then it will be institutionalized next year,” she added.
TFP Chief Strategic Resources Officer Patricia Feria-Lim said 100 teachers will be immersed in the partnership component called “Train the Teachers Training” by October. After finishing the training, the teachers will be deployed to around 36 public schools to teach saving and spending wisely, she explained.
“When they go back to their school communities, our count is about, there are about a hundred teachers from 36 school communities, 22 cities and municipalities, 11 regions,” Lim said. “So it’s in Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao, that is where we can see the multiplier effect.”
Visa said the partnership will enable the American multinational financial services firm to help expand its financial literacy efforts in the country this year. The teacher-training component will be introduced as part of the program in addition to the second tour of a financial literacy theater production that Visa launched last year.
“This year we aim to create a larger impact by introducing a teacher-training program that will educate teachers under TFP’s network,” Visa’s statement said. The teachers will gain knowledge and learn from TFP trainers how to integrate concepts of financial literacy into their
lesson plans.
The theater production, titled Lukot-lukot, Bilog-bilog will also be produced in a digital format so that teachers can use the play as a teaching tool in the classroom. This will also ensure that more Filipino students in the country have access to this theater production, Visa said.
“Through our partnership with BSP, TFP and TP, we have created a powerful outreach program to scale our financial literacy efforts,” Visa Country Manager for the Philippines and Guam Stuart Tomlinson said. “This year, our aim is to reach out to more students through the theater production and also empower teachers to introduce financial literacy into their teaching curriculum.”
Image credits: Alysa Salen