Trinidad and Tobago

GMW national coordinator: National Financial Education Committee Participating organisations: Bankers Association of Trinidad and Tobago , National Financial Literacy Programme, Financial Literacy Secretariat-Tobago House of Assembly, Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman, Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission, Mutual Fund Association of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange, Association of Trinidad and Tobago Insurance Companies, The Co-Operative Credit Union League of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago Insurance Institute, schools Total number of participating organisations: 11 Number of children and young people reached directly: 324,746 Number of adults reached directly: Not reported Number of people reached indirectly: Not reported

The National Financial Literacy Programme, NFLP, of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago launched its web application called “Money World” on Wednesday, March 23rd. The launch featured remarks from the Governor of the Central Bank, Senior Manager, HR, Industrial Relations and the Financial Services Ombudsman and Manager of the NFLP. Additionally, local youth influencer and Entertainment Ambassador also endorsed the app. Money World is an innovative learning tool where children between the ages of 7-11 can learn about key concepts of money such as the history of money, savings, budgeting and making wise spending choices. In addition to the interactive infographic, seven games and quizzes were created to challenge users’ knowledge and reinforce the knowledge acquired from navigating the interactive web portal. Since its launch, the Money World app attracted 640 players and the game portal 1,400 visits.

Additionally, The Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission, TTSEC, launched its Youth Entrepreneurs Series (YES) initiative called “Invest in your Start-Up Dream.” The YES campaign expanded on the GMW theme and aimed to promote an entrepreneurial mindset among the youth by highlighting successful entrepreneurs between ages 13-25. The participants shared their unique experiences in opening their businesses to encourage and inspire others to invest in their start-ups. The YES campaign also provided a platform for the country’s young entrepreneurs to share their real-life stories, the challenges and successes, and offer advice and tips to motivate and encourage their fellow youth to open their start-ups. 35 applications were received and evaluated along with specific criteria, one of which was the uniqueness of the venture. Successful applicants were featured on all the TTSEC’s digital platforms and highlighted in the Trinidad Express Business newspaper. The analysis showed 311,754 total views of the posts and 96,223 total engagements including views, likes, shares, comments, and reactions.

In Tobago, two main activities were hosted by the Financial Literacy Secretariat (FLS) of the Division of Finance, Trade and the Economy, Tobago House of Assembly. The “Be Money Smart” video challenge was geared toward secondary school students that allowed them to share their perspectives and ideas on money matters creatively. The video challenge attracted approximately 12,000 views, 800 likes and 690 shares, and 200 comments. Four winners were selected from the five finalists winning prizes such as UTC Units, book vouchers and digital devices. Other prize categories included the “Best Video Content”, “Most Creative Video”, and “Most Popular” video. In addition, the Money Talk campaign encouraged financial literacy discussions between parents and their children.

Lastly, the Bankers’ Association of Trinidad and Tobago (BATT’s) hosted 112 students from the Bishop Anstey High School East. Under the theme of “Build Your Future, Be Smart About Money”, BATT’s virtual event was led by media personality and comedian.

BATT’s virtual session started with an exciting “Business Idea Challenge” facilitated by the General Manager, Youth Business Trinidad and Tobago under the theme of “Building an Entrepreneurial Mindset.” After presenting the fundamentals of how to start a business with a business model canvas, the students were invited to create a business in the agriculture industry. Following this, the students were placed in groups and had to pitch their business idea after 20 minutes of brainstorming in their groups. The programme also offered useful tips on how to be smart about money. Prizes were offered for answering financial education questions. The participation was made fun with interactive activities.