Queenstown learners receive high tech training in financial literacy at a workshop run by Capitec Foundation, in partnership with Nelson Mandela University’s Govan Mbeki Mathematics Development Centre.
SETTING a budget, monitoring cash flow and learning how to grow your money are all valuable life skills – although they do not form a core part of classroom curricula.
To plug the gap, Capitec Foundation in partnership with Nelson Mandela University’s Govan Mbeki Mathematics Development Centre (GMMDC), has developed a tablet-based financial literacy programme, which they piloted on a group of 60 Grade 10 and 11 learners from 12 under-resourced schools in the Queenstown area, along with 15 life skills teachers from 15 schools.
“Research has identified a need for better financial planning in most South African households,” said Capitec Bank’s Consumer Education Officer, Nicky Mbelebele.
“The purpose of these interventions is to educate learners about the importance of basic personal financial life skills. We believe that if the learners apply the skills they have gained in the financial life skills workshop – including budgeting, borrowing, debt, saving and banking – they will be empowered to make better financial decisions.”
The learners are already part of a three-year Capitec-sponsored Maths and Science Incubator School Programme (ISP), run every Saturday by GMMDC, and hosted at Get Ahead College in Queenstown.
At the heart of the ISP programmes – which are also run at numerous other under-resourced schools throughout the Eastern Cape Province – is GMMDC’s unique technology-linked teaching and learning model – called the Integrated TouchTutorR Support Programme (ITSP) – which is available on laptops for teachers, for use as a teaching resource, and on tablets for learners, for use as a “personal tutor” after school hours.
GMMDC head Prof Werner Olivier said: “All the learners who are in the ISP programme already have tablets with our TouchTutor® package. The interactive financial literacy programme, developed by Capitec and including comprehensive explanations and worksheets, was added to these tablets.
“The learners loved the financial material, which they can continue to work through – and it has given them access to an important life skill … They can also share the information they have learned with their parents.”
The learners worked in teams, putting together a budget for their own businesses, with prizes awarded to the most financially-savvy group.
Alan Straton
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