Form four students are now being targeted by the Fiji National Provident Fund and the Ministry of Education in a collaborative project on financial literacy.

The five year project will help students make informed and effective decisions regarding their future investment, specifically retirement savings.

Director of the Curriculum Advisory Services, Mr Nemani Drova and Fund’s Acting Chief Executive,Mr Jaoji Koroi signed a Memorandum of Understanding yesterday committing the two parties to developing a framework for this purpose.

In thanking the Fund for their initiative in undertaking the project, Mr Drova said the Ministry and all the stakeholders were grateful for the effort made to ensure that future leaders begin financial literacy training at a young age.

The project which is being integrated into the Form Four Commercial Studies subject, is divided into two parts with Phase one involving teaching the students the basic principles of savings while the other gives students an opportunity to practice what they have learnt.

As part of their syllabus, Form Four students will be expected to investigate three financial institutions in Fiji, one of which would be the superannuation industry, and decide practical saving options.

"This is a significant project undertaken by the Fund as it is aligned to the reform initiative the Fund has embarked on," Mr Koroi said during the signing.

He said, an important aspect of the integration of this programme is the professional development workshops which will be held for all Form 4 Commercial Study teachers at the beginning of the 2011 school year to equip them with the knowledge to teach the programme.

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