With BSE’s help, BMC starts financial literacy programme in civic-run schools

Guardian minister of Mumbai and state’s environment and tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray on Monday launched the latest initiative by the BMC Education department – Mission Financial Literacy Programme. The idea is to empower the children most of whom come from financially poor background, officials said. A booklet prepared as part of the programme was also released during the event. The course will run as a co-curricular activity for students.

This curriculum will begin in June as schools restart for the new academic year. According to information provided by the BMC Education department, different list of topics have been prepared for both classes. These include opening a bank account and its handling including use of passbook, chequebook, demand draft, paying slip, ATM, bank loans, insurance policies and premium etc. Other topics include role and functions of RBI, debit and credit cards, cyber security in online banking, introduction to income tax, importance of saving and investing, introduction to stock market, and online trading.

BMC education officer Rajesh Kankal, said, “The idea is to provide the best in the form of collaboration with the expert – BSE.”

Around 100 teachers from Mumbai Public Schools (MPS) have been selected as master trainers to run this programme. These trainers will initially gain knowledge from BSE officials on the subjects and will then train other teachers. The idea is to ensure that financial literacy among younger generations will help enhance Mumbai’s economic growth, officials said.