The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) called on secondary school administrators in the public and private schools nationwide to join hands in helping shape a nation of future savers and a nation of well-informed depositors who can make well-considered financial decisions in the future, and help in the country's economic development.

Addressing around 2,000 members of the Philippine Association of Secondary School Administrators (PASSA) during the 27th National School Administrators Congress held in Iloilo City recently, PDIC Vice President for Communications and Stakeholder Relations Maria Leonida Fres-Felix presented the joint financial literacy education project of the PDIC and the Department of Education (DepED) that aims to enhance the financial literacy of high school students through curriculum integration. This is the first school curriculum-based financial literacy project in the Philippines. Fres-Felix expressed hope that the collaboration will provide a springboard towards a national financial literacy program that will address the issues and needs of the different segments of society starting with the youth.

Under the joint project, the PDIC and DepED developed Teacher's Guides on values education and economics on specific learning competencies in the current secondary curriculum to supplement existing instructional materials of teachers in the public high schools. The guides contain information on PDIC, the banking system, responsible banking, and savings consciousness. Suggested activities and evaluation methods were also incorporated in the guides. In January this year, printed sets of the TGs were distributed to some 5,500 public high schools nationwide.

The project was recently expanded to include private high schools effective next schoolyear through an agreement made with the Coordinating Council of Private Education Administrators (Cocopea) in June 2007. This will translate to a reach of 6.3 million high students in the private and public schools nationwide yearly.

PASSA is a national organization of administrators in the secondary schools that serves as a forum for ideas and initiatives in development education among principals and administrators in the promotion of enlightened leadership for education excellence. Recognizing the need to enhance the financial literacy of the youth and inculcate the value of saving among high school students, it expressed support for the use of the Teachers' Guides among their teachers. PASSA President Ricardo Rapacon said that the financial literacy program is a valuable addition to existing efforts towards better education the country.

Fres-Felix said that PDIC's financial literacy campaign is another dimension it is undertaking to achieve its mandate of depositor protection.