Workshop launched to teach children how to save money

April is known as the month of Financial Literacy for Youth and as such a ‘Money Smart Kids Workshop’ was launched at the Herdmanston Lodge in Georgetown Monday by Outliers Zone, a Financial Wellness Institute.

The institute targets primary and secondary schools across the country as well as churches, youth groups and community centres, to teach the younger generation how to save money.

The workshop is being held under the theme, “Teaching children to earn and invest their monies to grow it from young.”

There is no provision within Guyana’s educational curriculum to teach young people how to make wise financial decisions.

Chief Executive Officer for Outliers Zone Athalyah Yisrael said she lived paycheck to paycheck until she invented her four chambers of a piggy bank which is: save, spend, donate and invest.

“I will share with you a quick story, of a young lady who was born into a single parent family and went to primary school, secondary school and university, and then she got her first job. But never during this journey was there ever a class teaching her how to grow her money or to make wise financial decisions….what happened is that she began living from paycheck to paycheck and that was me and I had to find a solution because I was making all of this money and spending it,” Yisrael said.  

The workshop aims to provide young people with a healthy financial future and will be covering topics such as budgeting, saving, donating, investing and earning.

Since its launch in 2017, the Financial Wellness Institute was able to assist approximately 1000 employees to make smart financial decisions.  

Yisrael, who is also a Financial Wellness Coach said, “In 2019 our focus is radical towards our children, because… if I was taught these principles as a child, therefore I would not be living an adult paycheck to paycheck lifestyle.”

On April 12, Outliers Zone will be on board with the international campaign – Teach a Child to Save Day at the National Gymnasium.

“This day is dedicated to helping 2000 children… 1000 primary and 1000 secondary students understand how to make wise choices about money from where they’re growing up,” the Financial Wellness Coach said.

This is the first event for Outliers Zone this year and it is in keeping with its mandate to help 11,000 children throughout the country become money smart.