- Over 7,500 students & 240 educators undergo programme in 2021
Despite a year that continued to be impacted by the pandemic, Maybank’s Cashville Kidz financial literacy programme has successfully reached out to over 7,500 students and some 240 educators from 30 schools across the country in 2021 as part of its continuous efforts to enhance financial literacy especially among the younger generation in Malaysia.
To reinforce the importance of financial literacy among students, Maybank held its third Financial Education Excellence Awards to appreciate educators and students who have displayed dedication and extraordinary efforts in promoting and championing it in the country. The awards programme also aims to further create awareness about the importance of financial literacy amongst Malaysians - in line with the National Strategy for Financial Literacy 2019-2023.
In his opening remarks at the virtual awards ceremony, the Chairman of Maybank, Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa, said, “We have witnessed how the pandemic has affected the nation’s economy and how uncertain the future may be. Due to this, it is in our best interest to continue providing these children with a life skill that would enable them to achieve financial independence for the future in a sustainable manner, regardless of their social or economic backgrounds. We want to continue educating them on how to generate money, rather than giving them money. Therefore, the continuation of the Cashville Kidz financial literacy programme is crucial in empowering our young communities with the knowledge and skills to effectively manage their finances in the future.”
He added, “In Maybank, our mission, through the Cashville Kidz Financial Literacy programme is to ensure that access to financial education isn’t a privilege to a select few but a basic human right for all children. We aim to give the gift of financial literacy to the next generation, one child at a time.”
The Maybank Cashville Kidz programme is accorded co-curriculum status by the Ministry of Education Malaysia, and is recognised and endorsed by key stakeholders such as the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of Cambodia, National Bank of Cambodia, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (the Central Bank of Philippines).
Shahril Azuar Jimin, Chief Sustainability Officer of Maybank said, “It is encouraging to see Cashville Kidz continuing to achieve its objectives in Malaysia although the school and classroom environments were disrupted by the pandemic. Despite these challenges, we pushed forward by being innovative in rolling out our programmes to schools via digital learning and gamification of Cashville Kidz. On top of that, we have enhanced the learning module to include education on latest banking trends such as digital banking and cyber security. We believe that the shift towards online teaching and learning today shouldn’t deter the push for stronger financial literacy in our communities.”
“Although we set an initial target of 6,600 students, the programme managed to reach more than 7,500 students in 30 schools and trained more than 240 teachers in 2021. Furthermore, since its introduction in Malaysia, Cashville Kidz has positively impacted more than 206,000 students in over 860 schools with more than 1,900 teachers trained. In 2021, the programme in Malaysia continued to remain focused on increasing the level of financial literacy to nearly 26%.”
Other guests of honour present at the virtual awards ceremony included the Assistant Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Abu Hassan Alshari Yahaya; Director of Sports, Co-curriculum & Arts Division, Ministry of Education, Dr Latip Bin Muhammad ; Founder & CEO, MoneyTree Asia Pacific Ltd, Michael Reyes; Executive Director of Sunway International Schools and Director of Pre-University Studies; Dr. Cheng Mien Wee; members of the Maybank Board and Board of Trustees of Maybank Foundation.
The winners of three categories of awards presented at the Maybank Financial Education Excellence Awards ceremony this year were:
Best School Award - SJK (C) Shan Tao Kota Kinabalu.
(Awarded to the school that displayed exemplary leadership, vision and willingness in driving the Financial Literacy agenda in their school)
Best Educator Award – Ann Richard Wong from SJK (C) Shan Tao Kota Kinabalu.
(Awarded to an educator who displayed extraordinary dedication and commitment during Maybank’s Cashville Kidz financial literacy programme)
Best Student Award – Anaqi Thaqif bin Zainul from Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Scientex Johor Bahru.
(Awarded to the student who achieved the highest post- assessment score in the Cashville Kidz programme and being a financial literacy role model among peers)
Originally piloted in Malaysia in 2013, the Cashville Kidz programme together with our programme partner MoneyTree Asia Pacific Ltd has now been expanded to Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines. The programme has been successful with approximately 250,000 school students in more than 1,000 schools across the region benefiting to date, with a target of having 32% of participating students improve their financial knowledge.
Maybank Foundation is the corporate responsibility arm of the Maybank Group, which seeks to positively impact communities in markets that Maybank operates. The Foundation’s programmes are focused on six key pillars which are Education, Community Empowerment, Healthy Living, Arts & Culture, Environmental Diversity & Disaster Relief.