Learning financial literacy through a supermarket trip
StanChart and Prudential kickstart year-long programme to teach underprivileged children basic money management concepts
THE FairPrice supermarket at Northpoint City was more bustling than usual on Wednesday (Jan 22). Blending into the usual crowd of afternoon shoppers, a group of around 40 primary school children wandered the aisles, filling their baskets with groceries. Satisfied with their selections, they then made their way to a cashier counter – dedicated just for them – for payment.
This atypical grocery shopping trip was the highlight of an event by Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart) and Prudential, which sought to teach underprivileged children basic money management concepts.
At the event in The Little Arts Academy at Northpoint City, the children (ranging from seven to 12 years old) were taught how to make informed decisions regarding four core concepts – namely earning, saving, spending, and donating – based on the Cha-Ching curriculum, a financial responsibility programme by Prudential’s Prudence Foundation featuring a series of animated cartoons.
Prudential Singapore CEO Chan San San said: “Financial literacy is a key life skill to have, and it’s essential that our children are taught this from young, so that they can start learning about money management earlier.”
Guided by StanChart and Prudential volunteers, the children were then brought to the FairPrice supermarket just a few floors down, where they were given a limited budget to shop for groceries – allowing them to apply their newly acquired knowledge.
Volunteer Clare Tay, head of wealth client engagement at StanChart, said: “As a mother of two primary school-going kids, I understand the importance of learning basic financial literacy from a young age. I’m heartened to see that the beneficiaries were able to quickly grasp the concepts of needs versus wants, earning, saving, spending and donating; and apply what they learnt when they went to the supermarket to do their grocery shopping.”
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 2 pm
Lifestyle
Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself.
Ten-year-old Kerwin Chan, who was one of the beneficiaries at the event, said that he “really enjoyed what they taught at the Cha-Ching workshop”.
He added: “Now when I go to the supermarket with my mum, I can help her make decisions on how to spend money wisely on the things we really need at home.”
Year-long programme
The event kicked off a year-long initiative to provide financial literacy education to underprivileged children by StanChart and Prudential, in collaboration with the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s (MSF) Social Service Offices at Ang Mo Kio and Yishun.
Developed in celebration of StanChart and Prudential’s 25-year-long bancassurance partnership, the initiative aims to provide financial education to up to 500 children from MSF’s ComLink+ programme, which contributes sustained financial and social support to lower-income families with children.
Eric Chua, senior parliamentary secretary for Culture, Community and Youth, as well as for Social and Family Development, was guest of honour at the event.
He expressed his approval of the joint effort between StanChart and Prudential, and highlighted the importance of such partnerships.
“Partnerships like this play an important role in ComLink+, which brings together the government, corporates and the community to uplift lower-income families with children towards stability, self-reliance and social mobility,” he said.
StanChart Singapore and Asean CEO Patrick Lee said: “We believe our starting points should not determine our future, and by working conscientiously with like-minded partners to create and run targeted programmes such as this, (we can) uplift less-privileged segments of society and empower them to learn, earn and grow.”
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
