The distribution of financial education textbooks in Kosovo schools has begun

In order to enhance economic and financial knowledge, the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo, in the framework of Financial Education, for the first time, has started the distribution of an educational collection throughout the territory of Kosovo.

CBK considers that the advancement and investment in the field of financial education directly contributes to citizens of Kosovo having knowledge in making the right decisions with their financial means.

During the distribution of the educational collection in the Primary and Lower Secondary School “Meto Bajraktari” in Prishtina, the Coordinator for General Functions at the CBK, Labinot Preniqi, said that with its financial education program, the CBK has a primary focus for students of all levels of education in Kosovo, as through the implementation of educational activities and materials, students will be encouraged to develop adequate financial management skills.

“The Textbook Collection consists of five textbooks with stories for children aged 6-10, respectively for students of grades I – V of primary education, and it will be used as additional material in the subject “Life Skills”. The textbooks will be distributed in physical form through all Municipal Directorates of Education throughout the territory of Kosovo, together with the distribution list in all primary schools of each municipality. For the purpose of inclusion, the textbooks will be distributed to all students, i.e. textbooks in Albanian, Serbian, Turkish, Bosnian and Romani languages ​​have been prepared. Textbooks have also been prepared for students with disabilities, i.e. audio books and books in Braille format for visually impaired students. Institutionalization of financial education in schools is a very important step as this is the right and the most comprehensive and sustainable way to influence the creation of a genuine financial culture”, said Preniqi, adding that this project lays the foundation for the start of inclusion of this field in school curricula.

The Director of Education in the Municipality of Prishtina, Shpresa Shala, expressed her satisfaction with this initiative, while also expressing her readiness to start training teachers in the field of financial education, in cooperation with the CBK.

“I am grateful to CBK for this opportunity, as this has been a long-standing need for children to be educated at an early age on financial education, so that in the future we have a better economic development. We know from households that financial education affects the development of the economy, the way of saving”, said Director Shala.

Venera Hoxha from the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) spoke about the importance of implementing this project with the CBK.

“We have estimated that this is an important project as the skills of saving are acquired at an early age. We hope that, through this project, together with the CBK and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, we will achieve the intended impact. We will continue to support this project, we hope and we are happy that financial education through this project will become part of the curriculum and we hope to formally continue the project for the highest grades as well”, declared Hoxha.

While Zana Zeqiri, Director of the Primary and Lower Secondary School “Meto Bajraktari”, expressed her happiness for the launch of this project, which she said that they will pay attention to, while wishing that this initiative is extended to all schools in the country.

The collection of 5 textbooks has been prepared by relevant experts of the field and they are in accordance with the core curriculum for primary education in Kosovo.

The distribution of textbooks will take place after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.