Learning Financial Literacy for the Future
Financial Literacy is defined as the ability to understand and use various financial skills, including personal financial management, budgeting, and investing. At the primary school level, there are basic financial skills that can be taught to children to build and establish a foundation. These lessons include, but are not limited to, saving, borrowing, and even developing a basic business plan. Over the course of the past few days, students at Queen Square Primary School have been engaged in a financial literacy and entrepreneurship course. These courses are being hosted by the Miami Herbert Business School, a department of the University of Miami, and the Peace Work Organization. News Five’s Paul Lopez stopped in today to find out more about what the students have been learning.
Shanay Fuller
Shanay Fuller, Standard 6 Student, Queen Square Primary
“I created Joes funeral home for the fact that I am interested in a funeral home from last year when I heard of Jenkins Funeral Home and how they are blooming so fast.”
Paul Lopez, Reporting
You heard right, thirteen-year-old Standard Six student Shanay Fuller aspires to become a funeral home director. It may sound like an unusual aspiration for a primary school student. But, Fuller says she was inspired in this pursuit by her sister and her mother.
Shanay Fuller, Standard 6 Student, Queen Square Primary
“I was interested in it, and like my older sister and my mom they planned to open a funeral home. But, since COVID hit really bad they didn’t have to plan it. But, COVID had a lot of deaths, so that is one of the most booming jobs in Belize. That is what inspired me to open a funeral home.”
Now, with the help of students from the University of Miami, and the Peace Work organization, Fuller and her classmates are learning what it takes to start up and run business.
Hamza Farooq
Hamza Farooq, Graduate, University of Miami
“We are here on a project to help students in this school with financial literacy along with any other of my friends here. We are going through a hand book that we made that involves different areas of financial literacy, such as spending, saving, budgeting, how to open a business, how to grow your business. And today, we are talking about self confidence, self esteem and leadership, because those are some of the key qualities that will help these students as they go into high school and beyond.”
Financial literacy courses are often lacking in the primary school curriculum. Rarely are children taught in school the importance of saving, investing and building businesses at this level. This financial literacy and entrepreneurship course is geared towards bridging that gap by giving students, like Shanay Fuller, a head start in pursuing her dream.
Hamza Farooq, Graduate, University of Miami
“Yesterday we focused a lot of entrepreneurship in terms of how to think of your idea, how to develop your idea, in terms of what your market is, what your competition is, what are different ways you can tell people about your product by advertising, and other marketing strategies, and also how to get funding for your business. I think one of the biggest challenges that aspiring entrepenuers faces are to get funding. The day before we talked about three major things, budgeting, saving, and borrowing. I think these are some of the principles that form the foundations of financial literacy, for these kids to learn these basic rules will help them a lot.”
Nyah Veve
Nyah Veve, Student, Queen Square Primary
“I learn about saving and budgeting my money. If you want to be an entrepreneur you don’t have people take advantage of you.”
Amunique Lodge
Amunique Lodge, Student, Queen Square Primary
“I like them because ih teach you about budgeting and how to save your money and spending it wisely. And, the difference between debit cards and credit cards are that debit card is the money that you put into the bank that is out of your own pocket and credit cards are from the bank that you are borrowing and you have to pay it back.”
Like her classmates, Shanya Fuller also learnt these invaluable principles of business. She now has a business model for Joe’s Funeral Home that she intends to implement when she finishes her high school studies in business.
Shanay Fuller, Standard 6 Student, Queen Square Primary
“My service I wanted to offer to my customers is promotions and great deals. My promotion is thirty percent off and forty. By having promotions it brings in customers especially with their grieving. At my funeral home, at Joe’s Funeral Home we comfort people at the grieving of their loved ones. Comfort is a huge part for me because having comfort is everything. You don’t want to be harsh to your customers when you are already going through a hard time. Also, with my business, when my business starts blooming, I want to help college student with their college tuition, especially students who are smart and don’t have both parents, only one parent that cannot provide for them financially.”
The course comes to an end on Friday. Reporting for News Five I am Paul Lopez.
