For many Hong Kong teenagers growing up in a city awash with luxury brands and the latest must-have mobile phones, putting money away for a rainy day may not be a priority. However, as awareness of the importance of financial education grows, more students are getting the opportunity to learn how to manage their finances. Sponsored by the Citi Foundation and organised by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Healthy Budgeting Family Debt Counselling Centre, the Smart Kid Financial Education Experiential Programme is a one-day camp where students learn about real-life financial challenges. Targeted at students in Form Three and above, the programme aims to provide students with advice on personal and financial planning. During the one-day camp, students are confronted with real-life situations where they must make choices about their education, work and unemployment, consumption and savings, investment and entertainment. About 380 students from 38 secondary schools participated in the camps in the 2007-08 school year, with the last camp held in April. The next camp will be held on July 5, followed by another on October 11. After completing the programme, students become ambassadors who help spread the message to their peers. Each school team is expected to share what they have learnt with at least 300 of their schoolmates within two months after they return to school. Another programme, the Citi Youth Investment Education Programme 2008, helps students in forms four to seven improve their understanding of investment concepts and test their investment skills. More than 2,000 students from 155 secondary schools across Hong Kong participated in the programme, which included seminars and workshops on investment research and analysis methods and an online stocktrading game. According to a survey of 1,277 secondary school students conducted by Citi earlier this year, more than 90 per cent believe financial education should start in secondary school or earlier. Lim Sim Seng, Citi country officer for Hong Kong, said the investment education programme aimed to provide future investors with good analytical skills and valuable knowledge of the stock market and investing. He said 80 per cent of the students who participated in the programme said they had gained a better understanding of financial markets and financial management basics. 'Many people lack sufficient knowledge to make good investment decisions,' Mr Lim said. 'This programme is important because it teaches young people how stock markets work and prepares them for the time when they can start investing.'