Lucknow: Extending Mission Shakti to schools, the state govt will be rolling out a programme for financial literacy for 1.25 lakh girl students.
Through this initiative, govt will aim to empower young girls with critical financial knowledge and management skills. "This is a major push for financial empowerment and a target has been set to equip Rs 1.25 lakh girls in council schools with essential financial literacy skills by Dec 31. Financial education will be provided to 80,000 girls in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs), 35,000 girls in PM SHRI scheme schools and 10,000 girls in other upper primary schools," said minister of state for basic education (independent) Sandeep Singh.
UNICEF will provide technical support to govt for this initiative, under which girls will be educated in matters like savings, banking, digital payments, insurance and other financial topics. An orientation programme for 2,200 teachers was completed on Oct 28. Another 3,000 nodal teachers will be trained by Nov 30.
An official said that during the training programme, the girls will learn about ways to moderate future needs by managing expenses according to the family's income. Practical activities will provide them with real-life tasks. They will be told about methods to reduce unnecessary expenses and increase savings, taught skills to plan savings so that sufficient funds can be accumulated for large expenses, opening a bank account, understanding banking services, and the importance of saving for emergencies, information on cheque books, ATM cards, interest, fixed deposits and recurring deposits.
The girls will be given practical training through stories, activities and bank visits. After the completion of the training, girls will be given certificates.