The foundations of the Spanish Banking Association (AEB) and Junior Achievement Spain are celebrating the tenth anniversary of their ‘Your finances, your future’ program this year, thanks to bank employee volunteers who visit classrooms to bring financial education to secondary school students across Spain. 70,000 young people have benefited from this program since its launch in 2014.
To mark the anniversary, leaders from the banking, public, and educational sectors participated in a conference on the importance of financial education in the training of young people, which was closed by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Carlos Cuerpo.
For the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, “the initiatives of the institutions promoting this conference are evidence of commitment and collaboration with financial education. A core purpose of the ‘Financial Literacy Plan’ is to bring together and provide visibility to all ongoing initiatives and that joint effort in developing projects among everyone. We have a shared interest in seeing this move forward.”
The president of the Spanish Banking Association, Alejandra Kindelán, has called for financial education to be part of compulsory schooling “because it is an essential tool to facilitate our daily lives and turn our projects into reality, improving personal well-being and that of society as a whole.”
Furthermore, she highlighted the dedication of the nearly 5,000 banking sector employees who have participated in ‘Your finances, your future’ to help students develop healthy financial habits.
The Director General of Junior Achievement Spain emphasized that “for us, this journey in financial training that we began ten years ago alongside the AEB and the banks has an extraordinarily positive balance because it helps us inspire and transform the youth of the future.”
During the round table on ‘Financial education is everyone’s responsibility,’ the Director General of Strategic Policy and International Affairs of the CNMV, Víctor Rodríguez Quejido, stated that “through the Financial Education Plan – Finanzas para todos -, we work intensively to improve the financial skills of our young people. The progress achieved in the latest education law is proof of this.”
For Alberto Ríos, Director General of Financial Conduct and Banknotes at the Bank of Spain, we should be confident in the steps taken, but there is still a way to go. “Undoubtedly, the most effective way to succeed is to strengthen training throughout the different educational stages of our youth.”
Financial education is gaining increasing importance among European financial policy priorities, highlighted the Deputy Director General of Sustainable and Digital Finance, Ana Puente Pérez. “The objectives of the Financial Education Plan – Finanzas para todos are fully aligned, and actions are aimed at improving citizens’ ability to manage their finances with total security.”
María Dolores López Fernández, a secondary school teacher at Colegio FEC Santa Joaquina de Vedruna in Madrid, advocated for introducing financial education as a compulsory subject “because it is essential for the future of young people, regardless of the profession or trade they choose.” Carmen Rizo, Head of Social Action at the AEB, moderated the discussion panel.
