About the Program

The Financial Education department of the BCRA and the Office of Learning Design (Office of the Secretary of Educational Innovation and Quality, Argentine Ministry of Education) produced a series of teaching materials entitled “Financial Skills for Life” under the 2016-2021 National Strategic Plan: Argentina Teaches and Learns. This plan was developed in conjunction with the Argentine Ministry of Education—within the framework of an agreement signed in 2017—to include financial education in primary and secondary schools across the country.

The first resource of the series called “Project Financing: Graduation Trip” is divided into five conceptual “routes” and focuses on that trip, which arouses a great deal of expectation among students.

Moreover, students are encouraged to figure out how to finance their project, to prepare their budget and to push forward an idea for fundraising.

Within this framework, we have conducted pilot tests since 2017 to assess the effectiveness of our resources and continuously enhance the methodology we implement.

Pilot Tests

First Pilot Test | September - October 2017

• 55 teachers
• Location: Province of Córdoba
• Sample: 32 secondary schools

This pilot test was conducted in cooperation with the Argentine Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Education for the Province of Córdoba and Banco de Córdoba. This test consisted in a face-to-face training session and online follow-up of teachers to ensure that they were using “Project Financing: Graduation Trip” properly. Teachers' training was divided in two modules:

• Module 1 | Teachers selected one of two conceptual areas to work on: “Means of Payment” or “Planning and Finance”.
• Module 2 | In face-to face sessions, teachers presented the results and talked about their experience with the material used and evaluated in class.

The flexible nature of “Project Financing: Graduation Trip” enabled teachers to make adjustments depending on the institutional culture, and the characteristics of each group of students, and of the community in which the school was located, among other factors.

Sharing the results was extremely valuable as teachers had the chance to talk about their experiences in class. There follows a list of the results reached:

• • 1. In many schools, the planning stage involved situated learning that changed students’ practices
  • a. At the IPEM No. 39 Don Bosco school, thinking out the process of making decisions and preparing a budget was something new for students.
  • b. At the Colegio General Paz school, students thought out the decision of making a graduation trip, analyzed available choices, and sold eco-friendly items to raise funds.
  • c. At the IPET y M No. 108 Clotilde G. de Rezzano school, students funded an outing to the countryside by selling flavored salts prepared by them.

• 2. Some schools funded their own projects:
  • d. The students of the IPEM No. 124 Adela Rosa Oviedo de la Vega school built and sold eco-friendly toys to pay for their graduation dinner.
  • e. The students of the IPEM No. 368 Anexo Conlara made fruit cocktails to raise funds for a school trip. They drew up a budget, bought the necessary ingredients and designed promotional flyers.
  • f. At the IPEM No. 146 Centenario school, students worked out a plan, and prepared and sold food to pay for their graduation party.
  • g. At the IPEM No. 191 Monseñor Angelelli school, students raised funds which were invested in graduation T-shirts and their trip. They devised a plan and sold food prepared by them in groups.

• 3. In other cases, students decided to fund a charity project.
  • h. The students of the IPEM No. 114 Arturo Jauretche ran a raffle on Mothers’ Day to help a community kitchen.
  • i. At the IPEM 117 Dante Bonati school, students funded a community project called “Volver al jardín” (Back to Nursery School) and prepared educational games for the Domingo Faustino Sarmiento nursery school.
  • j. At Colegio Juan Pablo II, students ran a table football championship to raise funds for buying 10 stoves for the Juana Manuela Gorriti school.

• 4. Other teachers decided to develop the resource focusing on electronic means of payment:
  • k. They divided students into groups to interview merchants and ask them about the pros and cons of using electronic means of payment.
  • l. Some teachers presented this topic in class and students spread their knowledge to their parents and grandparents by making them acquainted with the use of an ATM or online banking.
  • m. At CENMA Manuel Dorrego, students also interviewed merchants and invited their grandparents to work on this topic.

Second Pilot Test | May - October 2018

• Teams of up to 5 teachers
• Location: Province of Neuquén
• Sample: 18 secondary schools

This pilot test was conducted in conjunction with the government of the Province of Neuquén, Banco Provincia del Neuquén, the Ministry of Education and the Education Council for the province—within the framework of a Master Agreement for Cooperation and Collaboration on Financial Education and Inclusion signed with that government and Banco Provincia del Neuquén.

This test aimed to evaluate the results of “Project Financing: Graduation Trip” in 18 secondary schools selected by the Ministry of Education and the Education Council for the Province of Neuquén.

The pilot test was run along the following lines of work:

1. Face-to-face training and online follow-up of teachers provided by the BCRA

Training sessions were provided to groups of 5 teachers of different subjects (Economics, Social Sciences, Computing, Ethics and Citizenship, to mention a few), along with a volunteer from Banco de Neuquén.

2. Using the resource in the classroom

Every team adjusted the resource to the dynamics of their school, the students’ interests, needs, and social standard of living. Students were expected to share their knowledge with the community upon project completion.

The schools decided to:

• Fund their own projects: a day trip, travelling to a border crossing, the graduation trip, an educational trip to Buenos Aires, an educational trip to El Chocón Dam, a trip to Villa La Angostura, as well as the outfit for the class.
• Fund charity projects to provide supplies to their school's computer lab; to supply food to a community kitchen and a foundation; to furnish a school’s cafeteria; to prepare students' material for a community kitchen; to cooperate with the day care center of Los Álamos neighborhood; to contribute to the purchase of a copier for primary school No. 347; and to help Fundación SENO (a foundation for kids with cancer).

3. Recording the implementation of the resource

Each team plans, develops and assesses the implementation process, recording at the same time what happens in the classroom in different formats.

4. Disclosing the results at the end of the school year

A two-day session is planned, where multidisciplinary teams present, analyze and draw conclusions about the activity in the classroom.

5. Assessing results

In order to evaluate students' financial skills, they were surveyed before and after using the resource.