The Banco de España celebrates Financial Education Day
The Banco de España renews its commitment to financial education every year on Financial Education Day. It has been doing so since it launched its first initiative, the Competition for Schools, more than a decade ago. It currently offers educational programmes at all levels, school contests and both physical and online information materials.
The education portalAbre en ventana nueva on the website (www.bde.esAbre en ventana nueva) provides educational resources and opportunities for students and teachers. Its visitor section offers educational centres and associations of all kinds the possibility of signing up for the visits programme. Only in 2019 more than 18,000 people visited the Cibeles head office.
The other reference portal is the bank customer portal, a financial education tool for consumers. In its pages doubts about financial products are clarified and basic financial concepts are explained, using direct and clear language, supported by charts, videos and podcasts.
We are also constantly endeavouring to explain our currency through the distribution of explanatory materials and practical workshops conducted by the Cash and Issue Department. Twenty schools visited the Banco de España’s facilities in 2019. Other actions in 2019 included courses for teachers, the elderly and students with special needs. Especially noteworthy was the initiative that was launched together with the ONCE, which welcomed young people with intellectual disabilities to the Bank’s branches across Spain to participate in the workshop on banknotes and coins.
Here are some examples of our educational programmes
- The Schools Programme and Competition of the Financial Education Plan, promoted by the Banco de España and the CNMV, in which ministries, associations, educational centres and the financial sector participate. The programme, already in its ninth edition, brings basic knowledge of personal finance to secondary schools. More than 550 schools registered for the Programme in the 2019 academic year. Of these, 340 also signed up for the Competition, whose final was held on Financial Education Day (7 October 2019).
- The Banco de España’s Central Banking and Supervision Programme aims to offer adults and young people the opportunity to gain familiarity with our mission as a member of the Eurosystem and as a supervisory authority within the framework of the Single Supervisory Mechanism. One of the most noteworthy initiatives of this Programme is the Generation €uro Students’ Award competition, which is organised by the Banco de España and other central banks in the euro area and is aimed at upper-level secondary education and intermediate vocational training students. It gives young people the opportunity of understanding how the euro area monetary policy works and how it relates to the economy as a whole. A total of 3,975 Spanish students took part in the ninth edition of this competition in 2019, 56% more than in 2018.
- The Banco de España also holds training sessions for teachers of Economics, through its regional offices, with the aim of approaching the educational community and promoting knowledge of our institution among teachers. Ten such training sessions, in which more than 250 teachers have participated, have been held to date.
