Financial Education since Elementary School: 7.000 pupils have learnt to distinguish their needs from their desires during the school year 2006-7.

Athens, July 13, 2007.

Nowadays, when consumer goods are easily accessible and available it is useful for children to be able to understand early enough how money is earned and how it can be managed to their benefit, in addition to what is the role of the Economy in society. Seven thousand more children are more informed on these matters as a result of attending the 3rd year of the Financial Education Programme for elementary schools “Economy: Knowledge with…value”, which sees in children the future Economy administrators.

The participation process for Elementary Schools was simple and 300 classrooms in Athens and Thessalonica hosted the Financial Education Programme in the school year 2006-7. The teachers who also attended the course together with their pupils expressed their satisfaction from the educational role games implemented by the Hellenic Children’s Museum, because their effect on children’s way of thinking was obvious at the end of the Programme. Children were asked to think as grown-ups and experiment on programming the household needs and expenses, understanding how Advertising works and comprehending the role of the European Union.

The Financial Education Programme “Economy: Knowledge with…value” is implemented for the 3rd consecutive year with Citibank’s support and has been attended by more than 27.000 children in more than 1.000 classes in Elementary Schools of Attica, Thessalonica, Patras, Larissa and Herakleion in Crete. According to the Bank’s commitment, it will continue to travel all around Greece addressing even more children with the support and guidance of the Hellenic Children’s Museum. Citibank’s and Citi’s will, as the largest financial organization worldwide, to share their economic knowledge with the local communities.

Within 2007, Citi and the Citi Foundation have supported 616 financial education programmes worldwide, one of which is the Greek Programme for Elementary Schools “Economy: Knowledge with…value”.