DepEd–NCR welcomes financial literacy program

MANILA, Philippines — The nationwide deployment of the financial education program for public schools – a partnership project of BDO Foundation, Department of Education (DepEd) and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the benefit of students, teachers and non-teaching personnel – continues to make headway with its launch in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The initiative was officially unveiled in a gathering of more than 600 DepEd–NCR schools division superintendents, chief education supervisors and school heads in Pasay City. The launch was led by DepEd–NCR regional director Wilfredo Cabral, DepEd–NCR assistant regional director Tolentino Aquino, BSP Center for Learning and Inclusion Advocacy acting deputy director Rochelle Tomas and BDO Foundation president Mario Deriquito.

“We would like to extend our gratitude to the leadership of the BSP and DepEd for giving us this unique opportunity to be of service to educators and learners,” Deriquito remarked.

“With the support of the school heads for our financial education program, we can help raise our country’s financial literacy levels. You are crucial in our vision to promote financial inclusion. Together, we can help Filipinos achieve financial independence in the long term. We look forward to the implementation of the program as the education sector welcomes a new school year,” he added.

Financial initiative spreads nationwide

Prior to NCR, BDO Foundation, the DepEd and BSP launched the financial education program in Regions 2, 3, 4-A, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11 and 13. The regional launches are aimed at increasing awareness of the initiative as it is being deployed in schools across the country.

BDO Foundation distributed USB memory drives containing 10 financial literacy videos at the NCR event. Developed by the foundation in collaboration with the DepEd and BSP, the videos cover such topics as savings, budgeting, financial planning, investments, managing debt, the responsible use of credit, entrepreneurship and avoiding scams. The clips and accompanying discussion guides are uploaded on DepEd’s learning resources portal, where they can be easily accessed by public school teachers and trainers.

The financial education program for public schools is the flagship corporate citizenship initiative of BDO Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of BDO Unibank, under its financial inclusion advocacy.