The financial education unit was launched in May 2007 in line with the Financial Sector Charter (FSC), which requires that 0.2% of organisational profit after tax be spent on consumer education. Old Mutual’s financial literacy programme is targeted at LSMs 1 – 5 and is delivered in all nine provinces by trained facilitators and non-salespeople within the company. The project had a target of 20 000 participants in 2010, but in fact trained 22 611 from January to December 2010, thus achieving 113% of the annual target. Sixty-four per cent of those trained were female, empowering the women of communities to understand and take care of financial matters for the family. The increase in numbers indicates increased demand and a thirst for financial education. The increase in training was achieved on a smaller budget than in 2009, which was possible due to the materials having already been developed and the trainers trained.
On the Money school tool kit
The Department of Education (DoE) established a partnership with Old Mutual to develop an On the Money school tool kit for Grades 4 – 6, which is aligned with the Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) curriculum. The initiative provided Old Mutual with an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of developing and instilling personal financial management skills at an early age and to raise awareness among educators and communities.
The DoE identified the schools to be supported and Old Mutual conducted 131 workshops across the country between September 2009 and April 2010, training 1 451 EMS co-ordinators and educators from 894 schools.
The programme was a success and the curriculum advisors requested that Old Mutual extend the programme to other schools. The phasing out of EMS from the school curriculum seemed to be the greatest challenge when dealing with this project. Sessions were conducted in the afternoon and teachers tended to leave part-way through, adversely affecting the programme’s effectiveness. Delays in the roll-out of the programme in the North West were also experienced.
Old Mutual also distributed 313 733 diaries and 9 466 posters to beneficiary schools, as well as to other schools in each province. A programme evaluation showed the tool kit to be effective and user friendly, although some educators were concerned about the additional workload.
“It helps learners to concentrate, become self-disciplined, instil love and interest, and become independent entrepreneurs.”
“It is working; it encourages learners to save.”
Quotes from teachers engaged in the On the Money school tool kit training
Radio talk shows
Old Mutual continues to run radio talk shows with the aim of educating the public about complex financial issues. The shows are in African languages and use DJs to facilitate communication. The talk show programme aims to give advice, interact and engage with listeners, and drive the uptake of Old Mutual products.
Old Mutual experienced a number of challenges in running the talk shows in 2010. The content was too broad and ran over time, with too many deviations and questions from DJs and the public. Legal review meant approval of talk show material was not always timely. In future, Old Mutual will involve the DJs from the outset, and get their input and advice on how to make the shows more fluid and simple.