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8,000 students involved in this year's Citibank Financial Education School Program in Hungary

The Program continues with a $85,000 grant from the Citi Foundation

December 20, 2011

Another 8,000 pupils will now have access to innovative technology-based teaching materials in the 26 elementary schools across Hungary that participate in this year's Citibank Financial Education School Program. Citibank Hungary launched this financial capability building program in 2001 in partnership with Junior Achievement Hungary (JAH). Together with this year's support of $85,000, the Citi Foundation has donated a total of almost 1.2 million dollars to Junior Achievement Hungary and altogether 138,000 students in 336 schools in Hungary can now learn from the modern personal finance training materials donated through this program.

The aim of the program is to provide schools with modern, technology-based curriculum resources and innovative teaching strategies, which will increase students' literacy, skills and performance in finance and economics.

Batara Sianturi, Citi Country Officer for Citibank Hungary said, "Key concepts of our program include family budget, income and expenses, credit and risks, saving and investing, supply and demand, market and competition. All materials developed in partnership with Junior Achievement have been adapted to suit pupils' age answering to their specific concerns and are providing basic knowledge through an interesting and interactive set of games. We are confident that those students whose interest in finances we can raise while they are very young will be able to handle their finances in a more responsible and efficient way when they become adults."

The program package includes finance and economics DVD teaching materials that have been prepared by Junior Achievement Hungary based on their printed teaching materials developed in the US. These materials have been adapted to reflect Hungary's market environment and to meet the interests of Hungarian pupils. A modern laptop and a projector are also part of the package to provide the hardware for running the DVDs. In addition, a Web2.0 based webpage and continuous mentoring support from JAH also contribute to the program success.

Orsolya Gergely, Managing Director of Junior Achievement Hungary, said, "It is great to have the opportunity to continue this successful program with support from Citibank. I am sure students do not realize that what they have just received was far more than a one-off gift, but rather an opportunity to acquire skills and competencies like decision making, problem solving, teamwork, critical thinking, data gathering and analyzing, or negotiating that will all help them be successful later in their adult life. Effective use of the life-long knowledge gained by the students through this program has been reinforced by teachers and parents in the last more than ten years."

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