The Malta Bankers Association (MBA) announces that prizes will be awarded to the two competing schools which took part in the Financial Literacy Challenge (FLC) earlier this year and which formed an integral part of the activities of European Money Week (EMW).

This is being done in recognition of the very valid work that educators and students carried out to compete at the FLC particularly since their efforts actually took place weeks before the adoption of measures against the spread of COVID-19.

The MBA extends its congratulations and appreciation to the educators and students of St. Theresa College, Msida Primary School as the winning school and to St. Margaret College, Learning Support Centre in Cospicua which placed second. Prizes, consisting of monetary donations, were awarded to both schools and will be used to foster the teaching of financial literacy within the said colleges. In this respect the MBA thanks its members, the Central Bank of Malta and FinanceMalta for their continuous support of the events relating to EMW.
The objectives of the FLC are to promote awareness pertaining to financial literacy, financial education and financial inclusion, as well as to encourage the sharing of good practices amongst schools, teachers, students and other community members.
Students from of St. Theresa College in Msida decided to take up the challenge and prepare clocks from recycled material. They marketed their product, sold it and used the profit to buy groceries for a group of elderly in the community. With regards to activities at St Margaret College in Cospicua, a student from this centre tested and prepared various recipes with minimal waste. A panel was set up to taste the recipes and an event held to present the food. Bookmarks and booklets were also designed for this occasion.
This challenge was organized by the MBA in collaboration with the Home Economics Seminar Centre within the Department for Curriculum, Lifelong Learning & Employability within the Ministry for Education and Employment.
In March, the MBA had announced the postponement of the local events for EMW 2020, which was scheduled to take place between the 23 and 27 March 2020, to an as yet, unforeseen date. This was done due to the COVID-19 pandemic and health directives which were being issued. The MBA will in due course provide information if, or when, the other activities of EMW will be held.
Apart from the FLC, one of the activities that was organised in Malta prior to the decision to postpone other EMW 2020 initiatives was the Money Matters seminar for Year 6 pupils at the Home Economics Seminar Centre. This seminar sought to empower ten to eleven year old pupils with the knowledge and understanding, skills and attitudes to become financially literate and responsible from an early age, make informed decisions when handling financial resources, be of positive influence within their immediate family and amongst their peers and differentiate between authentic money and counterfeit money.
The recurrent theme of EMW was “Promoting financial literacy amongst youth” and would have been characterized by a series of financial education events organised by national banking associations across Europe, under the coordination of the European Banking Federation (EBF) of which the MBA is a member.

European Money Quiz

To continue on the theme of financial literacy, the EBF will mark the close of the 2020 European Money Quiz (EMQ) season, which is organised on an annual basis as part of the activities held throughout Europe as part of EMW, with the organisation of an online Grand Finale to be held on Tuesday 16 June 2020 at 14.00 hrs CET.

The EBF will live stream this event across Europe and this will feature amongst others, the announcement of this year’s national winners and the new EBF report on financial literacy. Finally, the Grand Finale will also include a financial literacy quiz in English that will be open to anyone who wishes to take part, such as students, parents, friends, colleagues, bankers and anyone else watching.

This event will mark the official close of this year’s EMQ season. The MBA invites the general public to obtain more details on the EMQ by visiting https://www.maltabankers.org/mba-to-award-schools-participating-in-financial-literacy-challenge/ as well as the EBF’s website at: https://www.ebf.eu/europeanmoneyquiz/