The Challenges of Financial Education – The Money Week in Luxembourg

The Challenges of Financial Education – The Money Week in Luxembourg

The ABBL (The Luxembourg Bankers’Association) organises “D’Woch vun Suen – The Money Week” in Luxembourg from 9 to 13 March 2015. The event takes place in the framework of the European Money Week launched by the European Banking Federation. The purpose of the initiative is to make pupils of the cycle 4.1. (Luxembourg primary school) aware of money aspects.

Philipp von Restorff, Head of Communication, and Jessica Thyrion, Communication Officer of ABBL presented the project and its genesis to the InFine.lu members last Tuesday evening at the House of Microfinance.

Today 4 % of the households in Luxembourg are over indebted. It has been observed that children, students but also a lot of adults have little knowledge and know-how about financial products and services. However, financial transactions are part of our daily life. Therefore, it is essential to have a clear overview of how to manage our personal finances. The international community commits to promote financial education. For instance, the OECD/INFE has defined the high level principles on national strategies for financial education. The movement to promote financial education is an international and European one and has reached Luxembourg. Various initiatives to foster financial education have taken place in Luxembourg. The Working Group for “Consumer Protection” of the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) has established a sub-working group focusing on financial education. The group is composed of public, private and civil society actors.

The ABBL contributes to the debate through the European Banking Federation and its “Project Group on Financial Education”. The ABBL has initiated “D’Woch vun Suen – The Money Week”. 23 Primary Schools in Luxembourg will participate in “The Money Week”. Activities related to money management and topics such as savings will be provided to 500 pupils by volunteers working in the financial sector in collaboration with teachers.

In order to prepare “The Money Week”, teachers and coaches have been trained by My Finance Coach, a German institute for training specialised in teaching and in providing educational materials. The participating organisations (ABBL, ALFI, and banks) signed a Charter confirming the non-commercial nature of the initiative. The Charter goes beyond the Money Week and defines objectives for financial education in Luxembourg. It calls major actors in Luxembourg to jointly develop a national strategy on financial education.

To know more about  “D’Woch vun Suen – The Money Week” click here