Our objectives were: - To improve the financial literacy skills and financial management and functional competences of disadvantaged (Roma, low skilled etc.) and disabled students - To Improve the self-esteem, self-confidence, motivation and believes of the above students groups - To improve the results of the school intervention to prevent potential labour market dropouts - To Improve the knowledge, skills and competences to guide and support the financial literacy training realisation at schools by teachers Therefore, our project tackled above issues by production and pilot approbation of specific training materials both for teachers and students, which enabled them to gain: - knowledge and skills for short-term personal finance management and financial control: budgeting and control over household expenses, timely servicing of debts, reasonable judgment in making commitments and purchases. - knowledge and skills for risk management and building financial sustainability. - knowledge and skills for financial planning in the medium and long term: setting goals, saving and investing, including for the purpose of providing for the retirement period. - knowledge and skills for prudent use of financial products and services.
In recent years, issues relating to financial literacy education for students with learning difficulties/disabilities and other disadvantaged have gained the attention of a wide range of organizations, including banking and other financial institutions, state agencies, community organizations, schools, and special interest groups. There is a general consensus among researchers and policymakers that those students have a lack knowledge of financial concepts and do not have the necessary skills and tools to make wise decisions about financial matters. The ability to make informed financial decisions is essential for their basic functioning in society. These decisions range from simple choices regarding daily spending/budgeting to the more complex processes of selecting insurance, banking, and investment products and saving for major life events such as attending labour market, the purchase of a home, management of financial resources, credits etc. Therefore, we have created dedicated training programme and materials to ensure that this gap is covered. From other side, we are addressing the needs reported by teachers, who lacks from training materials and appropriate guidance on how to implement financial literacy topics at schools.