Teach Children to Save South Africa (TCTS SA) Day

25 July

tcts sa

Savings Month to promote financial literacy

Johannesburg, 4 July – The financial literacy skills of South Africa’s youth are set to get a major boost with the launch of “Savings Month 2008” and the pilot Teach Children to Save South Africa (TCTS SA) initiative in July.

At the launch event held today at the IDC in Sandton, the Chairman of the South African Savings Institute (SASI), Elias Masilela explained, “The launch of Savings Month 2008 focuses on youth. Our motto for Savings Month 2008 is “Ligotjwa lisase manzi” which is a Zulu saying meaning that if you want to shape a stick, you will best do it whilst it is still moist.”

On Friday, 25 July volunteer bankers and financial sector professionals will deliver a one-hour lesson on why saving is important, how to design a budget, the difference between needs and wants and how interest makes money grow.

Supported by the Department of Education and The Banking Association South Africa, Savings Month and TCTS SA will take the lead in educating thousands of children on the importance of saving, and will demonstrate the commitment that South Africa’s financial institutions have in developing financial literacy of South Africa’s youth. The role of bankers and financial sector professionals in delivering these one-hour sessions is critical to inspire learners in Grades 4-7 to become life-long savers.

“TCTS SA is intended to be a one-day national initiative designed to highlight the importance of teaching the country's youth about saving money,” says Cas Coovadia, Managing Director of The Banking Association South Africa. “The aims of the programme are to inculcate a culture of savings, encourage volunteerism and promote collaboration at industry level on consumer education and financial literacy.”

All banks and financial sector institutions are encouraged to participate in TCTS SA Day on 25 July 2008.

If you are from a bank or financial institution and are interested in participating in the TCTS SA programme on 25 July; more information and toolkits can be obtained from www.banking.org.za or www.savingsinstitute.co.za. Alternatively, email tcts@banking.org.za to be assigned a school.

About Teach Children to Save (TCTS)

The TCTS programme was founded by the Washington DC-based American Bankers Association Education Foundation (ABAEF) in 1997. Due to the success of TCTS, global expansion of the programme has identified three countries to pilot the TCTS initiative: South Africa; Mexico; and Turkey. The 2008 TCTS SA pilot partnership is committed to implement a flagship event on 25 July 2008 under a partnership between the South Africa Savings Institute, The Banking Association South Africa, Citi in cooperation with the American Bankers Association Education Foundation, Operation HOPE and various trade associations within the financial sector.

South African Savings Institute (SASI)

SASI is an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to developing a robust culture of saving in South Africa. At SASI’s launch in April 2001, Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, drew attention to the poor savings rate; disparate living standards; lack of financial literacy and the poor growth of our economy. He noted that these concerns may all be mitigated by an improvement in savings culture by all sectors of the South African population.

The Banking Association South Africa

The Banking Association South Africa is an industry body representing registered banks in South Africa. These include both local and international banks, currently with 34 member banks. The Banking Association South Africa is the mandated representative of the sector and addresses banking industry issues. TCTS SA is a banking industry collaborative initiative in consumer education and financial literacy.

Issued by:

Meropa Communications
Joanne Smith
Tel no: (011) 772-1024
E-mail: joannes@meropa.co.za

On behalf of:

South African Institute of Savings
Mmakgoshi Phetla-Lekhethe
Chief Executive Officer
Tel: 011 269 3789

The Banking Association South Africa
Cas Coovadia
Managing Director
Tel: 011 645-6704

Event

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Last modified: 25 July 2008 10:22:49.