• Financial Center

Organizations Around the World Are Joining Forces for Financial Education

Interview: Sibylla Rotzler, Foto: Michele Limina 04 Nov 2020

Organizations Around the World Are Joining Forces for Financial Education

For the second time, SIX and the Swiss Finance Museum are supporting the Global Money Week of the OECD International Network on Financial Education with a rally for school classes. The organizers, Andrea Weidemann and Franziska Garbe, explain how they intend to promote the responsible handling of money among young people.

Andrea Weidemann, manages the Swiss Museum of Finance, the first and only finance museum in the banking country of Switzerland.  

Franziska Garbe, SIX, is responsible for corporate responsibility and corporate reporting. 

What is the rally of SIX and the Swiss Finance Museum about?

Franziska Garbe: Over a period of twelve weeks, secondary school students with a small budget plan a class camp that is as climate-friendly as possible - and then advertise it in a short video.
 

So the task of the rally is dealing with financial and environmental issues?

F.G.: Yes, because we think that the responsible handling of money also includes a responsible consumer behavior. This requires that I know the consequences of my consumption - also for the environment. Most children and young people already know it very well, and don't need to get it explained at all. But it does each of us good to consciously deal with our own consumer behavior from time to time: What do we really need and what can we do without?

 

The responsible handling of money also includes a responsible consumer behavior.

Andrea, the Museum of Finance is committed to financial education in Switzerland. Why do you think there is a need to address the topic of finance among children and young people?

Andrea Weidemann: Unfortunately, increasing youth indebtedness is an issue also in Switzerland, and according to various studies, this is likely to increase in the future, the more cash is digitized. Of course, children and young people see much less directly whether the piggy bank is empty when it is in virtual space. As a museum, we also have an educational mission, and therefore we offer various programs already to children and young people to positively influence the handling of money and finances.

Why did last year's winners win?

A.W.: The winning class submitted a creative video that described in detail how they plan to use the budget and they also planned a really great class-camp with their limited budget. What we liked very much was that the students not only budgeted well, but also deliberately made sustainable decisions and justified them well.

Unfortunately, increasing youth indebtedness is an issue also in Switzerland.

What do the school classes do with the prize money?

A.W.: The prize money goes to the whole class and the students are free to decide what to do with it. Last year's winners have actually used all the money they won for a class camp as they've described it. We were very happy about that, of course.

Why does SIX support this particular initiative?

F.G.: We like the international aspect: For one week every year, actors from all over the world get together to discuss the topic of financial education. This creates a great dynamic and it is much more effective than the actions of individual organizations.

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