Sabah student top at Alliance Bank AEIOU Financial Comic Strip Challenge 4
KUALA LUMPUR: Khor Joo Ching, 12, from SJK(C) Yik Nam in Sabah was named the winner of the Alliance Bank AEIOU Financial Comic Strip Challenge 4 at its prize-giving and closing ceremony last week. She took home RM5,000 cash, a trophy and a participation certificate.
Meanwhile, Tan Yen Zhi, 12, from SJK(C) Sentul, and Foo Qiao Ying, 12, from SJK(C) Chong Hwa in Setapak were named 1st and 2nd runner-up of the Challenge respectively. Each won RM3,000 cash and RM1,000 cash, as well as a trophy and certificate of participation.
The closing ceremony of the AEIOU Financial Comic Strip Challenge 4 was witnessed by the Deputy Minister of Education, Teo Nie Ching, and attended by some 300 students and 50 teachers from selected participating schools waiting to find out the winners of the three-month competition.
“Building a financial literate mind from young is key to the success of our nation. I am pleased to see such effort from a financial institution to educate our young children on good money management skills. The AEIOU Programme is a good step towards making Malaysia a financially-savvy nation,” said Teo.
“Financial literacy is an essential life skill. The bank works alongside teachers to help instill a smart money mindset in the young. Our goal is to help educate the children on prudent money management and financial responsibility. This skill will serve them well throughout their lives,” said Joel Kornreich, group chief executive officer of Alliance Bank.
Alliance Bank’s AEIOU Programme is part of the Bank’s financial literacy initiative designed to educate Malaysian primary schoolchildren in primary four (4) to six (6) on the importance of smart financial planning and management.
Based on the theme “Smart Financial Habits”, the AEIOU Financial Comic Strip Challenge enlivens the children’s learning experience by making financial literacy a fun subject through art. This helps make the lessons more relatable, exciting, and interactive for them.
The theme this year was “How smart money habits can help you achieve your dreams”. To participate, schoolchildren had to draw at least a four-page (4) comic booklet that illustrates their ideas on saving, planning, and spending; and submit their booklet before the end of September 2018.
With the support of the Ministry of Education, the AEIOU Programme reached more than 7,000 schools and successfully delivered financial lessons at more than 300 schools nationwide. As a result, submissions for the AEIOU Financial Comic Strip Challenge has increased from more than 5,000 in the first year, to over 15,000 this year.
“We launched the AEIOU Programme in 2015 with the Financial Comic Strip Challenge. To increase our reach, we published the AEIOU Financial Literacy Education Lessons on our corporate website and organised school roadshows. Last year, we added the AEIOU Rural School Initiative (a school renovation and refurbishment exercise) to provide children with a more conducive learning environment. We will continue to enhance our programme as developing communities is at the core of our vision – to build alliances to improve lives,” said Kornreich.
As part of the AEIOU Rural School Initiative, the Bank helped to restore five (5) schools in Sabah that had suffered a variety of infrastructure damage. The restoration include repairs to the schools’ roofs, walls and doors of the classrooms, canteens and restrooms.
The five (5) schools were Sekolah Kebangsaan Sugud and Sekolah Kebangsaan Tampasak, as well as three other schools that the bank had adopted under the Bank Negara Malaysia’s School Adoption Programme, which are Sekolah Kebangsaan Koporingan, Sekolah Kebangsaan St Theresa, and Sekolah Kebangsaan Bantayan.