United Nations Capital Development fund (UNCDF) Executive Secretary Ms. Judith Karl met with students and teachers of Nuku Primary School on Wednesday as part of her four-day visit to Fiji.

Nuku Primary school is recognized for its excellent integration of financial education (FinEd) in classroom setting and delivering FinEd in a practical manner to students from low-income families within a rural setting.  Despite resource constraints, the school offers both early childhood learning together with FinEd from Years 1 through to 8. 

The Executive Secretary presented a set of books to School Principal, Mr. Rishi Chand, together with a plaque in recognition of the school’s efforts to ensure that every child learns about personal money management.

Ms. Karl, officials from Ministry of Education and the United Nations were given an opportunity to see how FinEd is being taught in a Nuku Primary School. The Executive Secretary also met with teachers to discuss their FinEd teaching experience and their student’s interaction with the learning and resources.

FinEd is a jointly managed by the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme and the Ministry of Education and is fully funded by the Australian Government. Implementation began in April 2013 with ongoing strengthening of classroom implementation and FinEd teaching resources distributed prior to national implementation.

 FinEd is incorporated within the Fiji National Curriculum Framework and within the subject syllabi for all subjects of integration.  FinEd entails the teaching of money management and investment from class 1 to class 12. The teaching is embedded in the compulsory subjects so that every girl and boy is exposed to it throughout their schooling. This model is one of the most comprehensive and integrated in the curricula globally.