The Institute of Financial Studies (ISF) joined, for the 10th consecutive year, the initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and organized, during the Global Money Week – GMW (18-22 March 2024), a series of financial education programs and activities aimed at the academic environment, the business sector, pupils, and students.
The programs conducted by ISF aimed to enhance the level of financial education for both teachers and pupils and students by facilitating access for children and young people to concepts and information related to financial markets.
The most significant event during GMW 2024 was the organization of the 8th edition of the European Conference on Financial Services ECFS 2024 - “DIGITALIZATION & SUSTAINABILITY IN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR – REGULATIONS AND RECOMMENDED PRACTICES”. The event took place in Brașov, in a hybrid format. This year’s proceedings sparked debates on financial stability, financial education, and resilience, digitalization, and sustainability. Economists, professors, and representatives from the business sector met to determine the best path to overcome current crises and presented the economic and managerial perspectives of realities in the financial sector.
The conference was divided into several panels. One panel was dedicated to debates, another to financial education and professional training, with participants primarily being representatives from the professional environment and non-banking financial markets. Additionally, five academic panels were organized where university faculty, doctoral students from Romania and abroad presented scientific research papers, with 48 such papers submitted. Approximately 100 people participated in the conference. The plenary session of the conference was broadcast live on the ISF’s Facebook page and had an impact on 4200 people, recording 1700 views.
The main activities organized by ISF under the aegis of GMW 2024 were:
- 6 Start2Learn: Personal Finance sessions – a national financial education program aimed at high school students. 199 students learned the basic concepts needed to start planning their own financial goals, the foundation of a healthy financial life.
- 2 SmartFIN@ISF sessions – Vocational Training Seminars. These aim to improve the skills and knowledge of the 163 participating students, future consumers of financial services (upon completion of their studies), as well as potential employees in financial markets (insurance, banking, private pensions, investments).
- 3 FinTTT sessions – Training for pre-university teaching staff in the non-banking financial sector, attended by 67 teachers.
- 3 StartFIN sessions – Continuous professional training program for primary school teachers in the non-banking financial sector, attended by 70 teachers.
- 2 Insurance Academy sessions – a professional specialization program dedicated to students, consisting of a series of training modules delivered by specialists in the insurance field, attended by 56 students.
Global Money Week is an international event held under the patronage of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), during which entire communities join efforts to promote better awareness of the financial environment and provide young people with the tools and inspiration needed to shape their own futures. This initiative brings together organizations from nearly 170 countries and annually involves over 40 million children and young people.
ISF will continue to implement and develop educational programs in the future to contribute to increasing the level of financial education among the population.
