Solomons Team here to Observe FinEd Fiji Project

(Suva, Fiji, 23 September, 2011) The Ministry of Education and the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme hosted a study visit team from the Solomon Islands to observe the Fiji Financial Education Curriculum (FinED Fiji) Project for a week.

The visit follows on from an earlier visit by the Governor of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands earlier in the year. The Governor met with the Minister of Education, Filipe Bole and his senior staff who shared Fiji’s excitement in relation to this initiative.

Fiji is the first in the Pacific and the few worldwide to undertake such a comprehensive integration of financial education within the school curriculum. The purpose of this visit is for Solomon Islands to be exposed to financial education and to understand Fiji’s Ministry of Education’s experience in integrating personal money management and investment within the school curriculum thus far.

The visiting team from Solomon Islands comprises of Mr. Patrick Daudau, Head of the Curriculum Team, two curriculum development officers and Ms. Caroline Kanoko, Manager, Financial Inclusion Unit, Central Bank of Solomon Islands.

Mr. Patrick Daudau, felt very honored that their colleagues in the Ministry in Fiji have chosen to freely share their insights and challenges, “We are very happy to visit Fiji and undertake this mission, which has been very interactive and eye-opening. We are excited to hear the Fiji experience as Fiji is a leader in the Pacific. We aim to integrate financial education within our school curriculum and this Fiji visit would help us to contextualize financial education in the Solomon Islands. “

“As an education provider, we are obliged to inform and impact on the students at the school level for a better future. The delegation would like to acknowledge the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme for funding the study visit,”added Mr. Daudau.

The Fiji Ministry of Education’s, Deputy Secretary Education –Professional, Ms. Rokobua Naiyaga, encouraged the Solomon Islands to integrate financial education within the school curriculum, “As educationists, it is our responsibility to facilitate the teaching of essential life skills such as personal money management in the school curriculum. In Fiji, we are very passionate about financial education and are showing our sincerity by writing financial education into the relevant subject prescriptions.”

Fiji FinEd continues to generate strong interest from the Pacific and worldwide. This groundbreaking initiative is funded by the Australian Aid Program in Fiji and is jointly managed by the Ministry of Education and the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme. Young Enterprise Trust of New Zealand, are the providers of specialist and technical services to the Project.

The Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) is a Pacific-wide programme helping to provide sustainable financial services to low income households. It is funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and operates from the UNDP Pacific Centre.

ENDS

© Scoop Media