This NGO is ensuring students in Lucknow govt schools learn banking as a life skill
Pratham Education Foundation is instilling knowledge of banking in young students across UP’s government schools
Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
And following a similar path are the government schools in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, which are now teaching students the basics of bank transactions. To help these schools, Pratham Education Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, is aiding these lessons in the hope that it will allow children to exercise their argumentative skills and inculcate a more systematic method of learning.
Established in 1995, the NGO aims to address gaps in the education system and improve the quality of education in India.
Pratham Education Foundation teaches banking to school children
These schools in Lucknow teach students, belonging to Class II and III, to carry out bank transactions with the help of specially printed currency notes in denominations of up to Rs 10,000.
Children work in groups, which allows them to assist their peers in opening bank accounts. In the banking class, children also assume the role of security guards.
Besides, they are taught to discharge the duties of a cashier. Maintaining records and dealing with customers are other skills that are inculcated in these students by these lessons.
"We want to give practical knowledge of life to the children so that they can grow up with all-round personality development. We teach them the importance of banking and then tell them how to go about it," says Nuzhat Malik, Foundation’s State chief, as reported by NDTV.
Moreover, parents have praised this unique venture as there is a dearth of banking and finance-related education in schools and universities across the country. As of now, the NGO has incorporated this teaching model, highlighting banking as a life skill, specifically in Lucknow’s primary government schools.
“In 2017-18, Pratham had partnerships in 15 states and reached 6.7 million children. In 2018-19, it more than doubled to 15.6 million children. This was largely in part due to a state-wide partnership, covering all government primary (Class I to V) schools in India’s largest state by population – Uttar Pradesh,” the foundation says.
(Edited by Suman Singh)
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