Published: 11 March 2015 г.
Naryn, Kyrgyz Republic, 9 March 2015 – From 9 to 17 March 2015, the University of Central Asia (UCA) joined Child and Youth Finance International in engaging youth in Global Money Week (GMW).
GMW is an annual international money awareness celebration to engage children and youth worldwide in learning how money works, including saving, creating livelihoods, gaining employment and entrepreneurship.GMW is a growing international initiative; in 2014, three million children and youth in 118 countries participated in 2,000 activities organised by 490 organisations.
Throughout the week, UCA’s School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPCE) coordinated a range of GMW activities across the region to increase financial literacy and awareness among youth. Maximising UCA’s regional facilities and partners, activities were held at SPCE learning facilities in Khorog, Tajikistan; Naryn, Kyrgyz Republic; and Tekeli, Kazakhstan; local schools in Khorog and Tekeli; and at Teacher Training Colleges in Shugnan, Ishkashim and Darwaz, and Badakhshan University in Faizabad, Afghanistan.
“SPCE is committed to increasing skills in financial management and entrepreneurship in both young and adult learners,” said Gulnara Djunushalieva, Director of SPCE Director, “Today’s young learners are tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, so creating fiscal awareness and responsibility among our youngest citizens is an excellent investment.”
Under the theme “Save Today. Safe Tomorrow”, SPCE facilitated GMW activities that allowed youth to creatively engage with information and institutions addressing fiscal responsibility. Participatory training sessions on financial planning and management for youth, including Financial Planning and Savings in Your Life, Your Personal Budget, and How to Save and Use Money Wisely were held in all four countries. A drawing competition, with a focus on themes related to money, was organised in Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan. Several mobile banking sessions and tours at the Naryn branch of UCA partner Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank were conducted. A Skype discussion and online information meeting took place in Naryn, which included winners of SPCE’s Change the World Around You! social entrepreneurship competition for youth.
This is not the first time that SPCE has engaged young learners in fiscal responsibility and entrepreneurship. Since 2012, SPCE has delivered its Social Entrepreneurship Training Programme to Change the World Around You! finalists in the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan. The training covers social entrepreneurship, social marketing, business planning, information technology, presentation and negotiation skills. UCA implements the programme with funding from the Coca-Cola Foundation and the Coca-Cola Company, and to date, 62 participants have received training and 15 winners received up to $3,000 to implement their projects.
SPCE is Central Asia’s first provider of post-secondary, short-cycle education, giving young people and adults professional and vocational qualifications in a flexible learning format that enhance employment and income generating opportunities. With learning facilities in Khorog and Dushanbe, Tajikistan; Naryn and Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic; Tekeli, Kazakhstan; and in Shugnan, Ishkashim, Faizabad and Darwaz, Afghanistan, SPCE has reached over 74,000 learners since it was founded in 2006. In keeping with UCA’s mission to foster socio-economic development, SPCE has programmes in areas relevant to sustainable business development in the region, including Business Development, Small Business Management and Practical Business Management, and internationally benchmarked accounting courses.