Tin Shui Wai youth get finance lessons
A total of 100 teenagers from underprivileged families will learn about saving and managing money in a two-year workshop conducted by professional financial planners.
The Green Cubs Financial Education Workshop will see about 40 professional financial planners mentoring young people on how to save money, while teaching them basic financial concepts.
The students, aged 10 to 16, are from underprivileged families in Tin Shui Wai and their mentors are certified financial planners by the Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong.
It is the first time the professional body has held an educational workshop of this kind.
Each teacher will mentor one of the teenagers, who are introduced through the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals over the coming two years. They will provide guidance to the children at least once a quarter and help them save HK$200 per month.
After two years, an expected total of HK$4,800 in savings by each teenager will be matched by the Child Development Fund, which is commissioned by the Labour and Welfare Bureau.
Fifteen of the teachers will also lead extra tutorial groups, teaching savings and financial planning concepts through games and experience sharing.
At a game session last Saturday, the teenagers were divided into groups and asked to use body language to help their teammates guess financial terms. An explanatory glossary was distributed to the students afterwards.
IFPHK chief executive officer Angeline Chin Lai-kuen said the workshop could help underprivileged children in addressing their financial challenges through long-term planning and adopting a disciplined approach to savings.
'We believe that by helping the community to help themselves go beyond charitable donations, it will help create a financially sustainable and contented community,' she said.
